The Tragedy of Reikland
by Mixter
Summary: A historical story about the fictional nation of Reikland, an old Celtic-Nordic country smack-dab in the middle of the North Sea. One day Reikland will get into an accident and lose his memories, but he will slowly regain them overtime. Discover along with Reikland his story and many adventures, troubles, and interactions throughout his life. (OC x Fem Prussia, OC x Scandinavia)
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I moved Varyn's Character info page to my profile, so if you want to see it, it will be there instead

Chapter 1

-A day in Munich-

3rd, June, 2015

When he awoke, Reikland first noticed the dim light of the early morning cascading into his bedroom, casting everything in pale yellow haze. _Damn_ , he thought as he stared outside his window into the misty bright green forest showing the signs of late spring on the other side of the glass, _my country is so beautiful_.

He then was interrupted from his trance by an obnoxious snore from the other side of his bed.

 _Why does she have to snore like a lumberjack?_ Varyn thought as he settled back down under his blanket to try to fall back asleep. _Better yet, how do I manage to sleep at all when she is here?_

He decided to ignore the question and just enjoy her presence. _After all, she does only visit for about a month every now and then. Might as well try to make it last._ As he thought this he started to drift off back to sleep…

Then his eyes burst open. _Holy shit I almost forgot!_ He threw his blanket off of him and shook his lover beside him.

"Julia! Julia wake up!" he yelled as her eyes opened.

"Varyn? What is it?" the Prussian mumbled as she looked at the clock beside her. "It's only 6:48, why do we have to be awake? The awesome-me needs her beauty sleep you know."

"Because princess-snores-like-a-man, tomorrow is the World Conference Meeting and our plane to Munich leaves at 8:00!" Varyn quickly said as he ran into the bathroom to take a shower, turning the faucet on.

"Oh crap! We forgot! I thought we set our alarm to 6:00 to make sure we had plenty of time!"

"Yes I know but yesterday I heard that we were going to have a thunder storm some time during the night, I guess it knocked out the power and the clocks were reset." He said as he started to strip his clothes off.

"Why don't you just get a stupid generator already?" Prussia murmured to herself. She then looked over to her now almost nude lover about to jump into the shower. "Hey, mind if I join you in there? It would save timmeeee..." The albino said seductively, dragging out the last word.

"Sure, but just shower okay? We need to hurry."

"Aye-Aye captain!" She responded, swaying her hips back and forth as she closed the door to the bathroom.

 _*Le time skip to airport*_

Both Varyn and Julia boarded the plane just in time, just before one of the stewardesses was about to close off the door to the boarding tunnel.

"G-Glad we made i-it in time" The albino said in-between breaths, her chest heaving from the two having to sprint to their plane.

"Y-Yeah," Reikland huffed, "guess we were lucky."

"It obviously was because of _mein_ awesome good-luck!" Prussia said as she gave her iconic cocky grin.

Varyn just smiled and sat down in his seat, when Julia sat down next to him she instinctively rested her head on his shoulder.

"I just hope this meeting isn't as hectic as the one last time in Milan" Reikland sighed as he settled down.

"Yeah, Feliciano isn't the best at maintaining order, but you do have to admit it was hilarious when we locked Francois and Arthur together in the janitor's closet." She chuckled at the memory.

"Yeah it was funny, but usually when we have a meeting in Germany he doesn't allow us to have any fun. I mean I get it, we are nations and we have responsibilities, but you can still let us hang out just a little. I mean do you remember when we had that ice storm in Albany back in 2008? We were trapped in the conference building and we just did cool shit until the storm passed over and we could leave." Reikland sighed again, "I wish we could just have a day dedicated to doing fun stuff."

"I know what you mean Varyn, and please, if anyone gets to complain about my _bruder_ , it's me. I mean I'm the one who has to live with him for most of the year." The Prussian scoffed.

"Remember, you have to go back to him next week."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I hate having to go back to live with him for so long, his un-awesomeness totally ruins my time with him!"

He was surprised, "I thought you loved Ludwig? You never really complained about going before."

"Oh trust me, I do love my _bruder_ , but when I get to stay with you, we always hang out and do cool stuff, but recently Ludwig has started to ignore me, not completely, but enough to make me hate being with him. I just hope he's not finally fed up with me." Prussia frowned as she spoke.

"Oh come on Julia, everyone loves to hang out with you and you know that. Now where is that over-confident attitude that I love?"

She smiled as he said this. "You're right! I don't need him to drag me down! And you know what? Screw going back to Germany, I'm not going to return for a while and I'll spend my time with you and actually enjoy myself!" and by this time she was standing.

A few of the passengers shushed her to be quiet, and Prussia confidently sat back down, and the rest of the plane ride was enjoyed in silence.

 _*Le time skip to next day*_

As Varyn and Julia entered the conference building they were greeted by a number of people, Denmark came up to clap Reikland on the back."Hey Varyn, good to see you! And you too Julia! I'm sorry I couldn't come to the last meeting, I had some important stuff to take care of back home."

"It's okay Mathias, you're here now. But I will say that Lukas did seem pretty bored with you gone."

Mathias chuckled at this, "When isn't he bored at these meetings? Anyways let's try to hangout after today's meeting is over ok? Could go to a bar or something."

With this the silver-haired Prussian's eyes lit up, " _Ja_ , that sounds like a great idea! And I mean we all know that Bavarians make the most awesome beer!"

"Ha! I think I'll stick to my Danish Schnapps! Anyways I'll talk to you guys later okay?" And with that Denmark left the two, probably to go find Lukas and apologize.

"Well the conference should start pretty soon, shall we make our way there?" The Albino asked.

"We shall!" Responded Reikland, he then gestured to the door of the main room, "Right this way M'lady." He said, in the most snobbish aristocratic way possible.

Prussia just rolled her eyes and smiled, "Now you are starting to sound like Roderich."

When they had sat down in their assigned seats, with Julia in between her brother and Varyn, the meeting was about to start and people were starting to talk to each other. While this was happening she snuck off to where England and America were sitting. Reikland couldn't see her well from his position and just waited for her to return. As he looked around he noticed all the other nations that had come. The Netherlands and Portugal were arguing about who's colonial empire was greater, Sweden was talking to Lithuania about an IKEA shipment that had sunk near the latter's coast, and South Korea was talking to Japan, probably discussing about the hottest new manga. In the meantime he made small talk with France who was a couple of seats away. When the Prussian finally returned she had a devilish look in her eyes.

"I know that look. What did you do?" Reikland whispered to her.

"Oh don't worry you will find out in a second." She grinned mischievously.

 _Oh god_ , he thought, _what prank has she done this time?_

As Germany stood up he called for everyone to sit down and be quiet. The crowd of nations soon hushed down and looked up to Germany.

"As you know we are gathered here to talk about the world's issues. Now would anyone like to start us off?"

With this being said, Poland stood up and was about to start talking, when England and America simultaneously brought their drinks to their mouths.

"~kesesesese," Julia laughed under her breath, "here it comes."

A second later both of the aforementioned countries spit their drinks out with disgust.

"What the bloody hell!" England screeched, "This isn't tea!"

"What the-," America began, "this is no drink fit for a hero!"

England suddenly looked at his former colony, "You bloody git! You switched our drinks!" Shaking his friend by the shoulders.

America quickly raised his hands up in defense, "No I didn't! Why would I? I hate tea!"

"Well if you didn't do it, then who did?!"

After saying this both nations immediately turned their gazes to the albino women laughing.

"Oh, I should have known it would be you, you stupid kraut!" England yelled.

"Oh lighten up eyebrows! We all thought that was funny, right?" As she said this she looked around at all the smiling nations, "See? And what better way to start off the meeting than with an awesome spit-take!" Prussia started to laugh again.

"ENOUGH!" Germany roared, "Julia, if you want to make fun and games, then please leave! If not then just sit down and be quiet! We are here to discuss serious matters! Now, Poland, I think you were about to say something?"

Prussia looked a little hurt by her brother's words, but she quickly regained her composure. However she slumped a little in her chair and pouted.

Reikland knew he had to comfort her and gently whispered to her, "Hey don't let your brother's words bother you okay? I thought it was funny."

The woman merely shrugged, "Whatever." But she stopped pouting with this. And the rest of the meeting continued smoothly.

 _*Le time skip to after meeting*_

When the meeting was done, the nations rose to stretch their legs and started talking again. It was an average peaceful meeting, only interrupted when America and Russia argued about the whole Crimea issue. But besides that it was okay. Reikland then went to the doorway of the room and called out to everyone nearby.

"Okay, so now that we are finished, is anyone interested in going to a bar? If you are please raise your hand!"

England scoffed at this, "What are we? 8 year olds in bloody primary school?"

"Oh just shut up Arthur! Are you coming or what?"

"Of course he's going!" Yelled Scotland, "No true Brit would pass down an opportunity for a pint!" As he said this he put an arm around his brother, grinning widely.

England just pushed Scotland off of him. "Yeah, yeah, I'll come." He sighed in defeat.

"Alright! Now who else?"

"I'll go, _da_?" Russia said, seemingly popping out of nowhere from behind Reikland. Most would be scared of the tall and intimidating Russian, but Reikland just smiled. Meanwhile Belarus latched onto her brother's arm.

"I can't let my brother go alone, now can I?"

"We're coming too!" Yelled Denmark, dragging an annoyed looking Norway behind him.

Don't forget about me _mon ami!"_ Yelled France, rushing to where the growing group was. "Hopefully they have some wonderful wine there!"

 _*Le time skip to bar*_

In the end a few other nations joined them, including; Austria, Hungary, Feliciano, Germany, Spain, and an irritated Romano. As they got their drinks and some food, the group loosened up and chatted more light-heartedly, they started to make to jokes and talked about the past.

"Hey France, remember when I totally kicked your ass in the Franco-Prussian War?" Yelled Prussia, gulping down some beer.

"No fair _tu chien_! Every nation has had their down points in history! Remember when you were a vassal of Poland for almost a hundred years?" France retorted.

Prussia winced at this.

"Too bad Francis has had some of the most down points out of all of this!" France glared at England when he said this.

"No, Arthur you are mistaken, that title would have to go to our _amigo_ Antonio!" Chipped in Reikland.

"No fair! What did I do to deserve that?" Whined the Spaniard.

"Well I mean after the age of exploration, you didn't do much and let yourself be owned by everyone. Even The Netherlands won against you!"

"Hey shut up you bastard!" Yelled Romano, wanting to defend his friend.

"Can't we all just sit peacefully, _da_?" Russia chimed with a smiling yet deathly stare.

"Y-yeah guys, let's just enjoy each other's company, and this food!" Feliciano said, digging into his pasta with a fork.

"How on earth did you get bloody alfredo at a bar?" Asked Scotland.

"Ve~ I have my ways."

"Anyways, what do you chaps want to do tomorrow?" I mean we have the day off until the second meeting." England inquired.

"I was thinking about that, maybe we could visit Zugspitze?" The Reikish man suggested.

"You mean the tallest mountain in Germany? It's not much to look at." Said Austria a little arrogantly.

"I know but I've never been there and I know it's not that far. Ludwig how long would it take us to get there?" Varyn asked his friend.

"Zugspitze? Well it's about 120 kilometers from Munich, so I'd say about an hour and a half, maybe more."

"Ve~ that's not too far! We should go Germany!"

"What? But I've been there many times!" the tall blonde retorted, looking baffled.

"Oh come Ludwig! It would be fun!" Hungary encouraged.

"Hungary? Why do you want to go? My mountains are much more impressive!" Roderich whimpered.

"Because, it is not too far and sounds perfect for a day trip." She answered.

"Then it's settled! So who's wants to go?" Reikland asked as he looked around.

"Sorry man, tomorrow Lukas and I were going to hang out with the rest of the Nordics." Said Denmark glumly.

"Hey I'm Nordic too!" Reikland complained to his old rival.

"Yeah but you are tainted with that _dirty_ Celtic blood." the Dane smirked.

"Oi! You want to say anything more about dirty Celts!?" Yelled Scotland, raising his beer glass.

"Oh pipe down Allister! It was just a joke. Anyways us two will go, maybe I can get America to come too." England said.

"That's sounds good." Remarked Reikland.

In the end, everyone agreed to go except Belarus who wouldn't let her big brother go. Russia looked at everyone for help, but no one wanted to get involved with his crazed sister.

"Well everyone, pack your bags, because tomorrow we'll spend the day at Zugspitze!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-The Accident-

June 5th 2015

The group left the hotel at 7:30, they wanted to leave early enough to be able to get full day's' worth of activities in. When they had decided on the seating arrangements they hopped into their cars and set off. The trip to Zugspitze was pleasant, with the caravan of nations traveling along the Bavarian countryside. Germany was right in his prediction, as it only took about an hour and 35 minutes to reach Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the town that sat right below the mountain. The group spent most of their time here, strolling around the village, visiting certain shops, and stopping by a vendor where many of them tried some traditional German knödel (a type of dumpling). The day was culminated by a trek up the hills closer to the mountain where they stopped for a picnic in the warm sunlight.

Varyn, Spain, and Romano helped unpack their gear, laying out a blanket, and bringing out a ball they brought. At first they all played a little makeshift football, dividing into two teams and setting up two basic "goals". They did this for about an hour until they got tired. Prussia walked up to Reikland when they were done, "Did you see that totally awesome goal I made?"

"Nah I didn't, must have been pretty lame if I missed it." he said sarcastically.

Prussia hit his arm playfully and strode over to England, who was pulling a frisbee out of his bag.

Reikland walked over to where Italy and Germany were sitting to check up on them.

"Ve~, you see Ludi, isn't this much better than staying at that hotel? Here we can talk to all our friends and eat outside." the Italian said cheerfully

" _Ja_ , I guess you're right," Germany sighed, "But I really should be preparing for tomorrow's meeting."

"Ludi come on, just enjoy the time you have now away from working. And besides, the meeting tomorrow isn't until two o'clock, so you have plenty of time to get prepared. Now just sit back and relax." Added Reikland.

As Varyn looked around he saw Romano being teased by Antonio. France, Prussia, England, and Scotland where throwing the frisbee around, and Austria and Hungary were laying down in the grass with their eyes closed, probably dozing off. When Prussia noticed the two, she walked away from the frisbee group and snuck up to them, when she was almost right on top of them she put her hands on her hips and bent down so her head was right above theirs.

"HEY GUYS WAKE UP! THE PRUSSIANS ARE INVADING! I REPEAT THE PRUSSIANS ARE INVADING AND HAVE SEIZED SILESIA!" When she was done shouting you could still hear the echo booming off the mountain side. Hungary and Austria's eyes lit up and the two proceeded to immediately rise up and hit their heads on each other.

"Oh god! That was too funny!" Prussia laughed, "Oh you should have seen your faces!"

"What the hell Julia?!" Hungary shouted, she pushed the albino and grabbed a frying pan from seemingly nowhere behind her back and got up, ready to strike. Reikland jumped up to the Hungarian and restrained her from the red-eyed woman who was now on the ground.

"Hold it Elizaveta! No need to hit people with a frying pan," Reikland paused for a second and pondered about the metal object in her hand, "wait where you sleeping on that?"

"Varyn, don't even ask." Roderich informed, rubbing his head, almost as if he was trying to sooth some previous injury from the past. "I have been unexpectedly hit by that monstrosity too many times."

Hungary had seemed to calmed down a little by this point and the metal pan of doom disappeared from sight.

"Where did she put it?" the Nordic faintly asked himself, completely dumbfounded.

"My pan works in mysterious ways." Hungary responded.

"Well then, now that you don't have a death glare in your eyes anymore, are you still going to try and kill me?" Julia asked, getting up from where the Hungarian pushed her.

"I still want to." Hungary huffed.

"Good enough." With that the albino turned to Reikland and smiled, "oh and thank you Varyn." She leaned on her toes to reach him and kissed him on his lips.

"Any time deary." He responded when they broke apart. He then noticed that the whole group was walking towards them, and with his stomach rumbling he thought that it was a good time as any. "Alright guys, who ready for lunch?"

The group settled down onto the blanket they had and broke out the food they had brought with them and began to eat together. Spain was happily munching on a churro, Romano was biting into a tomato, England and Scotland were arguing over who would get the last blood sausage, France was sipping on champagne while gazing at the mountain, Germany was eating a wurst and some leftover Knödel, Italy was eating some alfredo that he had brought, Austria and Hungary were enjoying some homemade goulash, meanwhile Reikland and Prussia were sharing a dish of gnocchi (potato pasta that Reikland enjoys a lot). When everyone was done with their food they all sat down for a while, basking in the sunlight. Prussia cuddled up to Reikland, enjoying the moment.

Reikland whispered into her ear, "Remember that time we went hunting, and you purposefully left one of the sleeping bags behind just so we could sleep next to each other inside of the one?"

"Hey at least it worked! I mean come on, you were the only man I knew that didn't want a piece of this." She said, gesturing to her body.

"Who said I didn't want it? I was just being a respectful gentleman." He smiled.

"Yeah, it was so gentlemanly of you to let me get lost in the woods by myself!" Prussia pouted at the memory.

"I had to pee! And I told you to stay right at the clearing where I left you, but noooo, you had to wonder off."

"I told you I heard a deer! I'm sorry my hearing is so much more awesome than yours!"

"Well I-" Reikland started.

"Would you bastards shut up!?" Shouted Romano, "I want to take a nap!"

With this the couple stopped arguing and just relaxed, embracing each other gently. Eventually everyone must have dozed off, because when Reikland opened his eyes again the sun was much farther in the sky than before. He slowly rose up and yawned, looking around to everyone sprawled out on the grass. Italy was clutching onto Germany's arm, snoring lightly. _I don't think I'll ever be certain about Italy's sexuality._ He shook Prussia awake and one by one all the other nations got up and stretched out their bodies.

"Man that was the best sleep I got in bloody ages!" Yawned Scotland, he got up and came over to Reikland, "So Varyn, Bro, what should we do now?"

Reikland didn't want to leave now but he realized that it would get dark eventually, and he decided that they better he'd back to Munich. Maybe they could stop somewhere on the way back though. When Reikland told them this, most looked a little disappointed but agreed. They packed up all the stuff they brought and headed back to the town, strolling around a little before they got to their cars. When they were set they waved goodbye to the mountain and started their drive back.

When they were about halfway done with their trip back they stopped at a restaurant to get something to eat. When they were done they walked outside into the warm late spring air, Reikland sat down on one of the benches and sighed, feeling very full.

Francis then walked to the front of the group and folded his arms, "Well _m_ _on amies,_ today was a great day, but I don't feel like it should end."

"What do you have in mind frog?" Arthur inquired, never impressed by anything the Frenchman had to say.

"Well I looked at a map in the restaurant and it showed a nature reserve very close to this spot, who's up for a little stroll in the woods? It would help to walk off those big meals we just had."

"That's sounds like a wonderful idea!" Spain exclaimed, wrapping an arm around France's shoulder, "Plus we still have time before the sun goes down!"

"Yeah that sounds good, how far is it from here?" Asked Austria.

"Oh it would only take us about ten minutes to get there by car."

"Well then let's get going!" Julia yelled. And so, they got back into their cars.

When they arrived at the nature reserve they all hopped out and walked towards the entrance. When they paid their admission fee and walked in, the first thing they noticed was a giant tree near the entrance. Hungary walked up to the sign next to it, reading it's contents.

"It says here that this tree is believed to be 1050 years old! Hah! But not as old as me!"

Prussia didn't look impressed and shrugged. "Lizzie, almost everyone here besides Ludwig and I are even older than that; you're not special."

"Shut up!"

Reikland chuckled and the group continued to walk on. The sights in the reserve were amazing, with the group coming to a point where they were on a hill side, and the viewer could see for miles into the green swaths of trees.

"~Ve, Germany let's get a picture together here! It will look cool!"

With a little budging, Germany reluctantly agreed and Spain took a picture of the two.

"See it looks nice! I told you! _Fratello!_ We should get one too!"

"No way." Romano refused bluntly.

"Oh come on! You know you want to! You wouldn't want your brother sad now would you?" Feliciano said as he gazed into his brother's eyes.

"Fine! But in the future, do not try and guilt me into something again!"

"Okay!" Italy grabbed his brother's wrist and the two posed for the picture.

Latter on the gang stopped at a very high bridge that passed over a decently sized river.

"Man we are really high up." Allistor observed. "Hey Francis, how high do you think we are?" Asked the Scotsman, peering over the side.

France whistled at the sight. "That's quite a drop, must be at least 30 meters, plus it looks pretty shallow. Wouldn't want to fall off from here."

"Yeah, same here." Replied Scotland, walking away from the edge.

Reikland looked up at the sun and saw how late it was getting. Germany noticed this too and looked back the group.

"Guys we should be heading out now, the sun's about to set."

"Oh West, can't we ever have fun?" Mocked Prussia.

"Oh I have an idea." Chimed Italy.

"What is it Feli?" The Spaniard asked.

"~Ve, we have a perfect view of the sun, we should watch the sunset from here, it would be so pretty!"

Varyn nodded at the suggestion. "I like that idea, I haven't stopped to look at a sunset in a while now."

"I would also like to stay." Roderich added.

"Alright, alright we'll stay." Germany said in a defeated tone.

The group quieted down and observed the slow descent of the glowing orb in the sky. Reikland leaned against the side of the bridge and relaxed. Prussia came up to him and he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close. She tried to wriggle free for a moment to irk him but quickly gave up and relaxed. Reikland and the others watched as the sky turned a brilliant flaming red, orange, and pink, with the darker blue crept up slowly.

"Wow." he sighed at the stunning sight.

The woman in his arms nodded. "I know, it's beautiful."

"But not as beautiful as you." Varyn flirted, he knew it was corny but he meant it.

"I know." The albino replied. The two then looked into each other's eyes, those damn red eyes that Varyn would always get lost in. They leaned in and shared a long, passionate kiss together before stopping for a breath. By this time the sun was almost completely vanished from sight and the bright moon finally showed its face.

"Hey guys, I have a brilliant idea." Reikland called out, still leaning on the edge.

"What is it?" England asked.

He grinned, "Let's do a night time skinny dip."

Most of the nations laughed lightly and just brushed the thought off.

"I mean it! Come on it would be fun!" The Nordic prodded.

By now Hungary looked a little irritated. "I bet you just want to see us ladies naked."

Reikland pretended to look hurt, "Oh, how your words hurt me! But seriously Lizzie, I'm not a pervert, and besides I've already seen you naked, and we did a lot more than just look at each other."

"What?" Julia interrupted.

"Uh oh," he mumbled, "I shouldn't have said that."

"Varyn! We agreed to not mention that again! That was a long time ago!" Hungary scolded him.

"What happened a long time ago?!" Demanded the silver-haired woman.

Varyn and Hungary just stared at each other for a while. Finally the Reikish man gave in.

"Okay, okay, I once had a... minor relationship with Elizaveta."

The Hungarian looked offended. "I wouldn't call it minor, we got pretty... intimate..."

The dirty blonde tried to explain the situation. "It was a while back, before I even met you okay? I never mentioned it because one; we agreed to not talk about it again, and two; because I didn't think it mattered."

"Well you should have told me! That is something I would have liked to know!" The Prussian only looked angrier, her pale face turning a shade of red.

All of the other nations just watched, probably not wanting to get involved.

 _Wow thanks guys_.

"Okay I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just didn't think it was that important! Come on you can't get mad over something that happened before we ever met!" Reikland tried to make it better, but the words coming out of his mouth only seemed to make it worse.

"Ugh! You idiot!" The Prussian shouted.

And with that she shoved Varyn, who was still close to the edge. He fell back a few feet and lost his footing, reaching out with his hand to catch his fall. However, he missed the edge and his weight fell with his hand into nothingness. He felt himself fall backwards and was soon plummeting head-first to the water. He felt his body rushing through the air when he heard a scream, a shout, and a head splitting crack...

And then all was dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

-Awakening-

My eyes opened slowly, distant sounds, pain… so much pain, shadows in vision, can't move, darkness...

I opened my eyes once more awhile latter and saw a white ceiling above me, everything was blurry. I then noticed how much my head hurt, it felt like someone slammed it with a sledgehammer. I tried to sit up but i couldn't move my body, and couldn't feel it. I was so tired, and the room around me was darkening, I fell unconscious.

I woke up again, again seeing a white ceiling above me but this time I could make out the individual tiles that it was made out of.

 _Where am I?_

I noticed again the intense pain in my head,

 _What the hell happened?_

I felt extremely lethargic, and couldn't move my body much, however I did feel a response in my fingers and I wiggled them slightly. Some areas of my body where tingling and staticy and felt like they had fallen asleep. I angled my head slightly and could make out the edges of the walls that made up the room, all white. I could see just a bit to my right and there was there was the top part of a window, but my vision was still a bit blurry and limited because of my inability to move my head much. I tried to make a sound but nothing came out, almost as if I didn't know how to.

 _What happened to me?_

Only at that point did I realize that I did not know who _me_ was. I tried to think of my name but my head hurt at the thought, I stopped trying to think and tried to observe the room I was in more. But I gave up when I couldn't move my head any further. I heard distant voices coming from somewhere but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I tried to listen harder but my head hurt and felt like it was swimming, the only thing that I could understand was that one voice sounded sad, but I couldn't even make out whether it belonged to a man or a woman. My head started hurting even more and I closed my eyes to sleep again.

I awakened a fourth time and immediately noticed how much better I felt, my head was still throbbing, but my body only felt a little bit numb now. I was still tired but I attempted to raise myself up and was successful at lifting my head and shoulders a considerable amount. I could now clearly see my surroundings, it appeared to be around sunset, and I realized that the room I was in was a hospital room. However I found that strange, as I did not remember getting hurt in some way that would require me to go to the hospital. I thought for a second and realized that I couldn't remember _anything_ , not my name, my age, my family, who I was, nothing.

 _Who am I?_

I started to panic and looked around the room for any clues or anything. As I scanned the room I saw nothing out of the ordinary, there was the bed I was in, some thin tubes attached to certain parts of my body, a chair to my right and a bed stand on my left with a monitor and some medical equipment, there was a curtain that was mostly closed in front of me, but I could see that the room continued a little to the left. I tried looking harder when I noticed a leg just around the corner to where the room continued, it appeared to be a woman's and that whoever it was attached to was sitting down. I tried to call out to the person but again nothing came out from my mouth.

 _What is wrong with me? What happened?_

I gave up and fell back onto my bed, apparently that made a sound because the woman's leg that I saw twitched and rose up. When she turned around and looked at me I was able to get a good look at her, I was astonished. The first thing that I noticed was her blood red eyes and her silver/white hair.

 _An albino._ I thought to myself.

She looked distraught and tired, like she hadn't slept in days, worrying about something. Despite this she was shockingly beautiful, long hair that was a little wild, a slender frame, long legs, pale skin, and a scar below her right eye. I noticed that her eyes were not completely red, but rather more red-violet.

 _This woman is not normal, she must be special or something._

Much to my surprise the woman who was staring at me eye's started to well up and she smiled. Even more surprising she rushed to my side and embraced me tightly, sobbing as she began to speak.

"Reikland, I'm so glad you're awake! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" She continued until it was just a mumble. Her embrace weakened and she leaned further into me. A million things went through my head, I was completely lost.

 _Who the hell is this?! What did she do to me? And did she refer to me as a country?_

The albino woman continued to lay on my chest and cried slightly, for what seemed like hours she laid there until she finally moved. She raised her head and looked at me and my heart broke a little inside for this stranger, she looked so sad and guilty.

I must have looked sympathetic because her face softened and she smiled. Then she surprised me once more, this time by leaning into my face and gently kissing me. I was at first in a trance, it felt so good and for some reason felt familiar. I noticed that her lips were very soft, but I soon came to my senses and quickly pulled away with a confused look upon my face.

 _What was with this lady?_

The albino woman looked a little hurt, but realization soon came to her, she then spoke to me in her German accent,

"This must be one of the symptoms of the coma, the doctor said that many victims at first don't recognize their loved ones. I'm sorry, but just seeing you awake made me so happy… I guess it will take a couple of hours for you to remember." She then let go of me and walked a little back, she turned to me and spoke again,

"In the meantime I will call everyone and tell them that you are okay, I bet Tim and Emma will be dying to come over and visit." She chuckled a little at this and walked a little before stopping again.

"Oh and Varyn?" She paused a little, probably waiting for a response that I couldn't give. She waited a little before she realized that I wasn't going to say anything, "I am so sorry about what happened." She then walked out the door and I heard her close it behind her.

 _What is god's name just happened?_ I thought.

As I settled back down into my bed with more questions than answers, I fell back asleep.

Prussia's P.O.V.

 _Could he seriously not recognize me? All he gave me were confused looks._

The thought hurt her, a lot.

 _Then again I did push him off a huge bridge into a shallow river head-first._

Guilt still ate away at her, the events from almost 5 days ago still fresh in her memory. She shuddered when she remembered the sound of his head coming into contact with the rock he landed on, even from way up on the bridge they could all hear it distinctly. The initial shock of what just happened, followed by the rush to get down to where he landed, she could remember the cuts from the bushes they had to go through. And then the sight of his limp body, and the blood… so, so much blood was gushing out of the wound into the river, turning it a sick shade of crimson. Prussia almost started to cry when she saw him, when she saw what she had done. They then rushed Varyn to the nearest hospital, the whole group stayed overnight until one doctor told them that they should go home and sleep, as he was said to be comatose. Many refused, saying that he would be fine in the next couple days, I mean he was a nation after all and would heal quickly. They had contacted all the nations who didn't know and told them what happened, The Netherlands and Belgium told her to immediately inform them when he woke up, as they wanted to see him. But the second day came and passed with no sign of him awakening, by that point most of the nations left and asked Prussia to keep them informed on his status. The only ones that remained were Germany and Austria, because they lived so close, and Scotland, because he didn't want to leave his friend behind. By the end of the fourth day however, Prussia was the only one left, the others having responsibilities to attend to. So she sat by Reikland's side, feeling immensely guilty and concerned for her lover, until just about an hour ago when he awoke. She went to see Dr. Gerhard and tell him that he was finally conscious. She explained what happened, stating how he didn't speak and that he seemed to not recognize her.

Dr. Gerhard reassured her, "That is normal for a victim emerging from a coma, they sometimes cannot remember how to perform basic human abilities like speech. But sense he is a nation, and how you told me he reacted to everything you did, I suspect that he should be back to his old self in about a day. He will also likely not remember the accident so if questioned about it he won't be able answer."

Prussia was very grateful and thanked him, "Okay, thank you doctor so much for everything you've done."

He simply nodded and she exited his office. Prussia then brought out her phone and looked for a contact, when she found it she pressed the call button, after a few rings it finally picked up.

"Hey Julia, any update?" Asked a cheerful voice in a Belgian accent.

"Hey Emma, I wanted to let you know that he woke up about an hour ago, he should be asleep by now and I know it's getting late so if you want to drop by tomorrow jou and The Netherlands can come and see him."

"Really he's awake? Well then my brother and I are booking a train right to you tonight! I want to see him first thing in the morning!"

The albino just smiled at her enthusiasm, "Okay then, I'll text the hospital address later, see you tomorrow."

When she hung up she walked back to Reikland's room and peered in, he was peacefully sleeping and looked rather blissful for someone who had fallen off a 45 meter bridge and hit his head. She smiled at the sight and sat in the chair that was next to him, gazing at his handsome face. Her anxiety from before melted away as she knew he was going to be okay. And as she was thinking these happy thoughts, she dozed off into sleep.

 _*Le time skip to next morning*_

When Prussia awoke she noticed it was early in the morning, probably around 6:00. She saw the pale light of the sun peering in through the blinds on the windows, the rays cast down onto the sleeping nation lying in front of her, illuminating his face. She smiled again and kissed his forehead,

"It will all be okay soon." She whispered gently.

After a long gaze at him she left the room and got herself some breakfast. She was alone as she ate, and she hated being alone, so she made some calls to the other nations to give them the update. After finishing she got a text from The Netherlands asking the hospital's location.

She quickly answered and about fifteen minutes later she got another text announcing that they had arrived, Prussia made her way to the front entrance to greet them and escort them in. After informing a nurse that had worked on Reikland that the two visiting were friends of his, she let them enter his room. When they all had entered and the nurse had left, they made their way to his beside and looked upon him.

Emma giggled a little, "He looks so peaceful doesn't he."

Tim nodded a little, "Should we wait for him to wake up, or should we just do it now?" He asked.

"No, we can wake him up. He's had plenty of sleep by now, and I think that he would want some answers by now." As the albino said this she gently shook the sleeping nation.

It took a little while for him to wake up, he still seemed groggy. But after a couple of seconds his grey eyes opened and he stared at the people around him.

"Papa! You're awake!" Belgium softly yelled as she hugged the much older nation.

Varyn looked a little confused and didn't hug back. Belgium, realizing this stepped back a little.

"Hey man, are you okay?" The Netherlands asked.

The Nordic just stared at them, until finally he opened his mouth to speak, his voice was a little raspy as he stuttered a little, "I-I, I don't r-remember anything."

The Prussian spoke up and tried to reassure him, "Oh Varyn, the doctor said that it is normal for coma victims to not remember the accident that happened."

Then Julia would have world rocked by a few simple sentences.

"N-no, I don't remember _anything_. I-I don't know who I am, I don't know my name, I have no idea who you people are, and I have no clue as to why I am sitting in this hospital bed right now."

The three nations in the room just stood there, silent, shocked at what the man had said. The woman's brain went haywire trying to comprehend what was just spoken.

 _No, no he's joking, this can't have happened, he toying with us, he's not serious._

Prussia reassured herself, he was just joking, this can't happen. "Reikland, you're joking, right? You have to remember me at least. Please tell me you are joking, this isn't funny."

The dirty blonde just looked more confused. "Why would I be joking? And no, I do not recognize any of you, and why do you keep referring to as a country?"

With this being said, Julia's heart shattered. The man, her best friend, the one who treated her so well. Her lover, the one who she loved and loved only, the one who she had shared so many memories with, some good, some bad, some horrible, some amazing. The man who had brought her back from the brink of death and fading away, the man who she had saved and who had saved her numerous times, the man who had protected her when she was weak, and the one who had encouraged her when she was strong. The one who defended her when others tried to hurt her, the man who she had dedicated her life to for so, so many years. The man who was her sole source of living, and the only reason that she could be happy in this world, the man who she would die for a thousand times and vice versa. This man… this man did not recognize her…

And it was all her fault.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

-Road to Recovery?-

June 9th, 2015

"Y-you, don't remember me?" Julia asked, staring at the Nordic country in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, but I do not, I don't remember anything." Reikland then made his charismatic smile, "But if someone would explain anything to me, I bet that would help."

Prussia just stared blankly back at him, barely hearing what he said.

 _No, no, no this can't be happening, no this isn't real. Reikland is just toying with us, he's fine. No god please no, this isn't happening. He's okay, he's fine, he is a goddamn fucking nation! He can't have this happen to him! Please! No this isn't real! Please god don't let this be happening! What have I done? Why is this happening? Why did I act so hastily?!_

Prussia was panicking, _badly_. She couldn't control herself and ran out of the room, eyes blinded by tears that she could not hold back. She ran out into the hallway, she ran past a yelling nurse, not hearing what she was saying. She just ran, and ran further, and further from the problem that she had created. The albino ran until she noticed that she was outside in the parking lot, it was still a cheerful and sunny day.

 _Why does it have to be sunny, when I feel like utter shit?_

She sat down and cried on the pavement, not caring if anybody saw.

 _Varyn, you said you would never leave me again._

A few minutes later she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up at the tall Dutchman grasping her, he looked unusually sympathetic.

"Prussia, I'm sorry. I know this has to be the worst thing that has happened to you in awhile, I know that he means the world to you and that he not recognizing you probably breaks your heart. It's hard on me too, but you can't run away from him, he needs us right now. He has no idea what is going on, he is confused and probably very overwhelmed right now, and we are the only ones who can help him. So would you come back in? We need your help with him, you're the one person who knows him the best and could give him the most answers."

Prussia did not expect that from The Netherlands, he was usually a little cold. But this is Varyn they were dealing with. She just nodded slightly and accepted his hand to help her up. As they walked back into the hospital, Prussia tried to calm herself down. She scolded herself for what she had done, first she pushes him off a bridge, and then she runs from him instead of helping when he doesn't remember anything.

Almost as if he could know what she was thinking The Netherlands spoke to her, "It's okay what you did. You were in a state of shock and you panicked. No one will judge you."

"Thanks Tim." She mumbled.

"What's that? I didn't hear you."

"Oh shut up." She frowned, and Tim laughed.

When they entered back into the room, Prussia saw Belgium talking to Reikland. "I'm sorry, I-I just got a little emotional." She stammered an apology.

"It's okay Julia, we were all shocked at what Varyn said." Emma reassured her.

The Netherlands spoke up, "What have you told him so far?"

"Not much, I just explained to him how we nations work, how he was the embodiment of Reikland, and I told him who we all are."

The Nordic spoke this time, his voice sounding better after getting used to it, "So I represent the majority of my people and my nation as a whole, and what I look like is because of my population?"

"Yes, and the same goes for all of us." Answered Emma.

"Then why is Prussia albino? And why does she still exist? Her country was abolished many years ago."

Julia was taken aback, the real reason why she still lived was because of him, he kept her alive and going, without him she would probably disappear, like before. Yet besides his somewhat rude question, she tried her best to stay true to her nature,

"Well that would be because of my pure awesome willpower! And when Prussia was dissolved in 1947, I came to represent East Germany. As to your first question, I don't know. It's not like the Prussian people were mainly albino, in fact, I think I've only met a few people in my lifetime that were albino. I guess it just adds to my awesomeness." She said as she brushed her hair back.

"And to your ego." Tim chuckled

She ignored him and rolled her eyes. Emma then left to get Doctor Gerhard, in the meantime Prussia sat at the foot of Reikland's bed, gazing at the nation who didn't recognize her. A few minutes later Belgium returned with the doctor right behind her.

"Hello Mr. Fjøsson, glad to see you awake again. I notice you seem to be okay but how does your head feel?"

"It still feels a bit fuzzy, but other than that I feel fine. I think that I could be able to walk around just perfectly."

"Well it appears to me that you have made a full recovery, except of course, your memories. I don't know what caused you to lose them, as most people in a coma usually just forget the accident. However you are a nation, and I would predict that overtime you will regain your memories."

"But what happened to me? What did I make a 'full recovery' from?" Varyn asked.

Doctor Gerhard looked a little surprised. He looked around the room at the other nations in the room. "I would have expected that your friends here would have told you already, but I guess I can explain now." He sighed and then continued, "about six days ago now, a group of about ten of your nation friends rushed you into here without calling an ambulance, god knows why, but according to their accounts, you fell off a bridge that was about 30 meters high. You landed head first onto a rock in the stream down below and they had to rush to get you here because of your massive amounts of blood loss. The fall would have no doubtlessly killed any normal human, but since you are a nation, and therefore your body immortal, you survived."

Reikland looked embarrassed at what he heard. "I fell off a bridge? What am I, some sort of klutz?"

Prussia winced at this, everyone but Varyn knew full well what caused him to fall.

When no one answered, Reikland asked another question, "So when do I get to leave? I feel fine now."

Doctor Gerhard looked at the clipboard he was holding in his hands, "Well according to our reports and from what I can see right now, I would say that you are free to go, just be sure to get yourself cleaned and dressed and then I will sign you out."

"Okay, thank you Doctor…"

"Gerhard" said the doctor, shaking Varyn's hand.

 _*Le time skip*_

After about an hour later, Reikland had gotten used to using his legs again and ate breakfast. The group traveled back to Munich where the other nations told Varyn they had been previously. They booked a flight for Reikland and Prussia for tomorrow afternoon to go back to his country, and in the meantime they toured around the city answering many of Varyn's questions. It took Prussia some serious willpower to control herself, first she couldn't just talk to him normally like just a short time ago, nor could she embrace or kiss him, even though she wanted to so much after being without him for almost a week. Second, it was killing her to hear Varyn, who was always a wise and knowledgeable man, who always seemed to know the right answer to everything, who was now asking a million questions like an inquisitive six year old. But she knew she could only blame herself for this whole event.

"So I'm more than 2,000 years old?"

"Yes, you had much contact with Rome in your early days." Emma answered.

"But I mean my physical body, this body I'm in right now, has lasted two millennia?"

Tim answered this time, "Yup, our physical bodies cannot be destroyed as long as our nation exists. That's why you survived that fall."

"That's pretty cool, but if our bodies are indestructible, why do we have scars then?"

Prussia decided to answer this; "Scars usually represent a devastating event in a country's history or when another nation physically hurt them. My awesome scar below my eye is from the Thirty Year's War, in which Austria injured me, I also have one on my abdomen from the Battle of Grunwald. The one you have across your eyebrow and cheek is from the Kalmar occupation of Reikland in the late 1300's. And the gashes on your chest and throat are from the Battle of Dorsten during the Napoleonic Wars."

Belgium added to this, "I have one along my side from World War 1 too."

"Oh god, d-does that mean I attacked you and Holland? Because that's what Reikland did in history." Varyn looked a little guilty when saying this. (My fanfiction involves alternate history)

"Yes you did, but we forgave you and we have moved on from that, I mean it was a hundred years ago." Answered the Netherlands.

"Well I'm glad to hear that."

Reikland's P.O.V.

A few minutes later when the two male nations fell back a little, just out of earshot of Belgium and Prussia, Reikland put a hand on the slightly shorter Dutch nation's shoulder and whispered to him,

"So Tim, what was my relationship with Prussia? I mean I know our countries were extremely close and had a lot of history together, but what did I have with Julia?"

Holland smiled at this and whispered back,

"You two have such a long history together that I don't know when to start. But to sum it up, the two of you might as be married, you two were inseparable and always together, well almost always. But she loved you, you loved her, and even though her home country is Germany, she would live with at your house for a couple months every now and then."

Reikland was taken aback by was the nation had said.

 _So that's why she did that back when I first woke up._

The Netherlands noticed Reikland's surprise and added,

"Remember Varyn, this is going to be very hard on Julia and on all of us. And while it might not seem like it at the moment, you were a very inspiring figure for me throughout history and we fought alongside to together many times. You even helped raise me and teach me a lot of things as I grew up, and so while I'm not the love of your life, I still consider you one of my best friends and a father figure, so if you need anything from me or Belgium, just let me know and I'll be there."

Again Reikland was surprised, the Dutch nation had a slight aura of coldness to him, but he guessed that was just because he didn't recognize his real personality. This made him feel guilty for not remembering anything. Reikland then vowed that he would try his very hardest to recall all that he had lost, to try to please all of his friends.

"Thank you Holland, t-that really means a lot to me."

With that being said the two caught back up to the female nations and they spent the rest of the day talking, answering Varyn's questions, and visiting places around Munich, eating dinner, and just killed time. When evening approached the four traveled to a hotel where they would spend the night. To not make things not awkward, the Netherlands and Reikland slept in one room, and Belgium and Prussia in the other.

 _*Le time skip*_

The next morning when they left the hotel the two Low Countries said their goodbyes to their friends and made their way back to their respective countries. Prussia and Reikland's drive to the airport was awkward and mostly silent, when they boarded the plane to the latter's country, the two sat down together. The plane ride was short and they arrived in Laezet, Reikland's capitol, in just about two hours. Prussia led him to apparently his car that was left in the parking lot for about eight days and she drove the two of them to Reikland's house in Latjësfjeld, which was only about 45 minutes from the capitol. When they finally arrived in the mountainous area where his home was, Reikland was shocked to see his house. Even though he could not remember it, he was still shocked by the sight; it was a large out-doorsy, modern log cabin with large windows and a cobblestone foundation and pillars on the bottom. Rustic and modern architecture clashed in a beautiful combination. There was an elevated patio that wrapped around one corner of the house and had a two car garage underneath it, with cobblestone stairs leading up to the main entrance and the patio. The house itself was on a small cliffside that dropped into a small river and the whole area was covered with tall pine trees and a few deciduous trees also. Overall it looked amazing.

"Whoa." was all Varyn could say when he first saw it, Prussia looked at him and smiled.

"Pretty nice, eh?"

"Gorgeous. D-Did I build this?" He asked.

"Well some parts, you obviously had workers, but the main design was yours. You always said that you loved the outdoors."

She was right, the scenery was beautiful, and it was all his. For a moment, he felt proud of this accomplishment. When he was done admiring his own house, the two brought their bags out of the car and proceeded to climb up the steps to the main entrance. Prussia pulled out a key from her bag and unlocked the door, and the two stepped inside. When he say the inside he again was taken away at how great it looked, everything was slightly rustic and wooden, but with a modern flair to it, there was a main lounge to his right that had a bunch of plush looking chairs and a couch that had the backside imbedded into the floor while the front side of the floor was lower down. There was a kitchen behind the staircase in front of him that had granite counters and modern looking kitchen appliances. At that moment he heard a pair of footsteps coming down the stairs, well actually two of them. They sounded fast, and a little loud, and before Reikland knew it, there was what looked like a huge, dark grey wolf booming towards him. Varyn flinched as the wolf jumped up onto him, knocked him to the ground and started licking his face. Immediately without thinking, the Nordic rubbed the wolf's back and he laughed.

"Hey-a Värjö! How are you doing buddy?"

As he continued to pet the wolf, the albino stared at her lover with a shocked face.

"What is it Julia?" Varyn asked, a little confused.

"H-How did you remember h-him?" The albino asked.

Reikland's face must have been just as shocked as he began to respond.

"I-I don't know, I-I, I guess something just clicked in my brain and triggered a memory. I haven't had that happen to me at all since I woke up."

There was a short pause as both nations tried to contemplate what just happened. Reikland stood up and rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "I guess that means my memories are already starting to return!"

Julia grinned and hugged the taller blonde. "That's right Varyn, that's right. You are going to be okay."

At that moment a chirp was heard from upstairs and down came a squat, small, yellow bird with a tiny pink bow tie on its head. It flew above them and landed on Prussia's shoulder.

"Jilbird!" The Prussian exclaimed, "you didn't do anything naughty while I was gone, did you?"

The bird gave a high pitched chirp and Prussia patted her head.

About half an hour later, when they had put away their bags and luggage, Prussia gave him a full tour of the house and showed him around. Värjö and Jilbird trailed behind, with Jilbird sometimes resting on top of the great wolf's head, riding him like a mount. When they were done, it was already 9:00 p.m. and the sun was about to set. So Reikland asked about when they should go to sleep.

" _Ja_ , it's been a long day, and I am getting tired. But..." the albino paused.

"But what?"

"I don't think that you would want us to sleep in the same bed. I mean it could be uncomfortable for you to sleep next to an almost complete stranger." Prussia admitted.

Varyn didn't want things to be weird between him and the woman who was essentially his wife, so he grabbed her hand and attempted to talk to her. "Listen, Julia, Tim told me about our relationship before my accident and while I am truly sorry that I don't remember it, I don't want things to be awkward between us. So if you'd like to, I want to try get to know you more and of our past life, maybe that will help me recover some of my memories." He said this with his best smile and Prussia blushed a little, but her face quickly darkened.

"I will help you with all my effort Varyn, but please, don't blame yourself for not remembering. After all, I was the one who caused it…" Prussia's voice trailed off with this.

Reikland was puzzled, didn't Doctor Gerhard say that he fell off a bridge?

"What? What do you mean?"

Prussia looked at him with her beautiful reddish-violet eyes that were now holding back tears. For a little while the albino stared at him until finally yelling.

"It was me! I was the one who caused jou to fall off the bridge okay!? I pushed you off by accident, I mean I pushed you on purpose, but I didn't think that this would happen!"

Reikland attempted to calm her and put his hands on her shoulders,

"Prussia, please calm down, I'm not upset, just please tell me what happened."

Prussia's breathing steadied a little and then she continued, "I pushed you because you told me something you shouldn't have. I overreacted and I got angry, you tried to explain to me, but I wouldn't listen. I was just so angry that I couldn't control myself and I pushed you, you then slipped and fell off the edge. And I'm so sorry! I never meant for this to happen! I'm so, so sorry Varyn! I didn't mean to! I just let my stupid anger get the best of me, and I hurt you! And I feel so guilty about that! I caused jou to go into a coma and to forget all your memories, and know you barely even know who I am!"

Julia was at this point now crying heavily, tears rushing down her guilt-ridden face. Reikland didn't know what to say and stood motionless for a second, still trying to digest what the silver-haired woman just said. He then did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms around her, pulled the crying Prussian into his embrace, trying his best to comfort her. She eagerly accepted the hug and squeezed him tightly, almost suffocating him, still bawling her eyes out. He sat them down on the bed and positioned the albino who was still firmly embracing him onto his lap. She continued to cry into his chest and he let go of one of his hands that was wrapped around her and stroked her head gently, noticing how soft her hair was.

Reikland then gently spoke to the Prussian,

"Julia, it's okay, I'm okay now, please stop crying, I'm not mad at you."

She looked at him with her eyes even more red than usual,

"Y-You're not?" She sniffed.

"No, I'm not. Everyone makes mistakes in their lives, some that are worse than others, it's all a part of life though. And who knows, maybe this will be the chance I get to fall in love with you all over again."

Prussia stopped crying by this point and blushed a little,

"T-that would be nice."

"Just nice?" He teased.

"Fine, that would be absolutely awesome."

The German finally smiled and embraced the larger nation tightly again.

"Now, would you feel better if we slept together?" He asked, knowing the answer already.

"Yes, that would be _wunderbar_."

And so the pair slept cuddling that night, with the albino latching onto the Celt and never letting go, not wanting to lose him again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

-First Memories-

As Reikland slept that night, he had visions, a lot of them. None of them really made sense or were connected, but he felt a connection to each one, as if he could almost recall the scenes that unfolded before him. At first there were flashes of a nighttime burning inferno on a battlefield, covered in holes he could only imagine came from artillery. It looked like a scene from hell. Men screamed, explosions shook the earth, gunfire came from all directions, and artillery shells seemed to rain down from everywhere. Poison gas had covered areas of the battlefield, and men with gas masks with bayonets fixed charged into enemy ranks across the devastated landscape, screaming on the top of their lungs, " _ILS NE PASSERONT PAS!_ " A man in a Reikish uniform close by was struck in the chest by a bullet and fell to the ground and two nearby soldiers attempted to drag him back towards their position, only to be riddled with machine gun fire and also fell to the ground. Men that were on fire cried as they tried to smother the flames on the ground, giving out blood-curdling screams from the severe pain. Another man in a German uniform shot at a group of French men that were charging at him, he managed to take two down with his Luger, but the last man reached him and rammed a bayonet into his chest, blood spurting out immediately. Another man in a tattered and bloody French uniform, or he should say a boy really, was crying in one of the trenches, trying to escape from this brutal nightmare, but another Frenchman dropped down into the trench and shot the boy in the head without even thinking. The man then realized whom he had killed and fell to his knees, only to be blown to pieces by an artillery shell. Another German man wielding a spiked club rushed up to a Frenchman and smashed the club into his face, a combination of teeth and blood flew out of the man's mouth as he collapsed to the ground.

 _T-This must be the Battle of Verdun!_ Reikland thought to himself, he remembered the nightmarish scenes of the battle, he had been there for a part of it, trying to forget it for a long time. (Yes I know that the Battle of Verdun was only between the Germans and the French, but in my timeline, the Reikish sent four divisions of men (around 40,000) to aid the Germans in the latter part of the battle.)

The scene then changed to two people sparring in a castle courtyard, a man and a woman from the looks of it, and Varyn was surprised to see that the man was him, or an earlier and slightly younger version of him. He was wearing some simple leather armour and had a black cloak and was wielding a long sword. The young woman was wearing a long white cloak with a black cross that also had a hood, and covered her face. She had portions of her body covered in plate, like her legs and arms. But strangely nothing covered her lower torso, leaving it exposed, revealing a cross shaped scar. She also had a long sword and the two engaged, rushing at each other, blades clashing. The area around them rang with sound of metal scraping metal. Reikland often got the upper hand and after a while disarmed her, clearly with more experience. The woman fell to the ground and her hood fell back, and from his visionary point of view, Reikland gasped. The woman was Prussia! Or what appeared to be Prussia. She had much shorter hair, no scar on her face, and her eyes seemed to be only red, with almost no violet or blue shade in them. The Reikland in the vision leaned down and offered her a hand back up.

"Come on Julchen, is that the best you got?" The Nordic teased her.

"Just you wait Varyn, one day, the awesome me will kick you on your ass." She retorted.

"Yeah, some day in the very far future."

The albino grimaced at the remark and kicked Reikland in the shin.

"Ah fuck!" The blonde yelled in pain, clutching his leg.

With the slight distraction of the larger man, the woman jumped to her feet and rushed towards him. As she tried to push him to the ground, Reikland noticed and stepped backwards out of her reach. Julchen didn't expect this and fell to the ground, but not without clipping Varyn's heel with her foot and bringing them both crashing to the ground. She laughed as she wrestled with Reikland on the ground. In a flurry of arms and legs, the woman eventually pinned Reikland onto the ground with her arms. She then grinned wildly. "I guess the future came faster than you expected, _ja_?"

"Okay, okay, no need to rub it in. But that was a dirty move." Varyn said, trying to defend himself.

"But you always said that I should do whatever I can to get an upper hand on my opponent." The silver haired girl retorted.

"Yes, that is true, but we are only practicing sparring today."

The albino pouted a little, "Well I think that you should be prepared for anything that comes your way."

"Hey, I did dodge you at first! Anyways, do you mind getting off of me?"

"But what if I like it here?" She replied, falling on top of the blonde and squeezing her chest onto him.

"U-um, Julchen?" Reikland stammered, his face blushing slightly.

"What? Is the awesome me making you uncomfortable?" The albino mocked, swaying her hips that were dangerously close to the man's lower region. She then decided to tease him even more, "I thought that you were more experienced than me at _everything_."

Reikland didn't not seem amused and he attempted to push her off of him. However, the devilish albino refused to let go, and they tumbled around over each other on the ground. Eventually the Reikish man gave up, tired from the exertion, with the silver-haired woman still on top of him.

Reikland was baffled, "How the hell are you so strong?"

The German pondered for a second before leaning close into the Nordic nation's face, and whispered, "Well maybe it's because you trained me." But she didn't stop leaning in until she was only about a centimeter from the man's face, staring into his eyes.

"J-Julchen, what are-"

The grey eyed nation started before her lips connected into his with passion. He at first had no resistance, actually seeming to enjoy it, but a moment later his eyes opened wide as realization hit him. He broke the kiss and threw the surprised woman off of him. Reikland rose up from the ground and shook his head. Julchen was stunned as she stood up and her face blushed embarrassingly.

"Julchen!" The Nordic scolded, "What the hell was that! You know that I am with Valérie! Why would you do that?"

The albino woman now had tears forming in her eyes, "I-I'm sorry, I d-don't know what came over me. I-I just…" With this she began to step back and ran in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" Reikland shouted, "Julchen I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you!"

The dirty blonde chased after where she had went, and the vision vanished away.

The scene changed again into a meeting between younger Reikland and a young man. He was clad in mail armour with a few pieces of plate on his arms and legs, and also a breastplate, standing with a few guards with halberds and similar armour behind him. The man who he was talking to was shorter, had dark ginger hair and green eyes, and was also wearing armour, but his looked a little less extravagant than the pieces Reikland was wearing. They seemed to be discussing an invasion of some sort over a table with a rough map of the British Isles on it.

"Are you sure that you will be able to reach Ewloe by the fifth of April? Our supplies are running short and the men have become desperate." The redhead asked, looking concerned.

Reikland answered with a stern face, "Yes of course, the ships are ready to launch at a moment's notice, and my levies that have gathered here in Dumfries are ready to sail. Don't worry Wales, my men with relieve the siege with ease, those stupid English won't know what hit them!"

With that being said, another man burst into the room, and strode quickly to the others.

"Mr. Fjøsson! I am sorry to say this but I have terrible news for you!" The messenger panted, bowing his head.

"Well what is it?" Demanded the blonde.

"It's the Danes! T-They have landed on the shores just outside of Lótharah! And they carry the banner of the Kalmar Union with them! They have occupied the town and are continuing their way further into the countryside, ravaging it as they go!"

When the messenger had finished, Reikland was seething with anger. "Dammit Mathias!" He slammed his fist onto the table below him. "I told you that I didn't want to join your stupid union! And now you're going to try to force it upon me! Well you better guess what's coming for you!" The tall Nordic man started to storm out of the room.

"But what about the siege! My men will die if they don't receive aid!" Wales cried out.

Reikland turned his head to the nation and looked at him with sympathy,

"I'm sorry my friend, but I need to put my own people first before any other." With that the blonde stomped to the exit and shouted to one of his guards standing by the door.

"Prepare the ships!" He ordered, "We need to return home as soon as possible!"

And with that the vision faded again, this time into blackness.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

-Answers-

June 11th 2015

Prussia P.O.V.

As Prussia awoke, she noticed the absence of the tall nation that she had fallen asleep with. She was scared for a moment, being alone reminded her of her days during the Cold War, when she would wake up every morning, and go to sleep every night in solitude… and without him…

Prussia shook her head and dispelled the negative thoughts.

 _What am I thinking? He probably woke up early and wandered around the house._

She got out of bed and put a robe on, even though it was the middle of June, Reikland was still not the warmest country to be in, and plus, it was early morning. She checked the clock on the bed stand that read 5:19.

 _Damn, what is he doing up so early?_

She exited the bedroom and searched around the house looking for him, she checked every room on the second floor to no avail, finally going down the stairs to check the first floor. She scanned the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the bathrooms, and even the office with no sign of him.

 _Where the hell is he?_

The Prussian finally checked the patio outside and saw him sitting on the floor, hugging his knees. He was watching the sun rise over the river that led into the lake beyond. It was truly a beautiful sight, the orange and yellow shades cascading onto the ripples of the lake, making a gentle lapping sound as they hit the shoreline. The morning mist came off of the lake and made the whole scene a little foggy and mysterious, and the great pines that surrounded the lake leaned in towards the water. She noticed that Reikland was bare chested, exposing his lean and scarred torso, and was only wearing a pair of shorts even though it was quite chilly out.

 _He has always been used to the cold, living up here in the north._

Julia opened the sliding glass door to the patio as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb his peaceful state. She then gently tiptoed to where he was sitting, not making a sound, kneeled down and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting them dangle to his chest. He didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence, almost as if in a trance. They sat there together in silence for a moment until the dirty blonde finally spoke up.

"Beautiful isn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah," she sighed, "you picked out this area to build your new house, just for this view."

Reikland chuckled slightly, "A good choice on my part, if I do say so myself."

They then resumed their silence for a while, watching the sun growing ever higher into the sky, and enjoying each other's presence. After almost twenty minutes like this, Varyn broke the quietness.

"So last night I had some visions of the past."

"You did? Were they awesome?" The Prussian asked. She sounded a little bit sleepy, still hanging her arms around the taller blonde.

"Yeah, there were three. The first one I could tell was from the Battle of Verdun, I don't really want to talk about that one. But another one was a meeting between Wales and I in medieval times. We were discussing about me sending men to help relieve a siege in Wales by the English, when suddenly, a messenger burst in and informed us that soldiers from Denmark had landed in Reikland. I then got mad and went on a rant about some guy named Mathias, and I stormed out of the room asking for ships to be readied."

"That sounds like it was from 1377, when the Kalmar Union invaded Reikland." (I know that the Kalmar Union wasn't founded until the 1390's, but again this is alternate history)

"Didn't you say that that was when I got the scar on my face?"

"Yeah, the war went very badly in your favour, and it devastated your country. I think it was Denmark that gave you the scar in battle." Answered the albino. There was a pause again as the blonde was probably thinking about the war.

"Anyways, the final memory was in a castle courtyard, with two people sparring with swords. And the two people were you and I, o-or what appeared to be you. She had much shorter hair, no scar on her face, and her eyes were only red, and also, I called her Julchen for some reason. I can only imagine that that was you in some earlier form, but the two of us were sparring, like I said, and I got you on the ground. You then kicked my shin and got me on the ground too, in which we wrestled around with you pinning me to the ground. We then spoke a little until you leaned down and kissed me, and I threw you off and yelled at you. You then ran away and I tried chased after you." After saying this, the Nordic man looked up at the albino still clinging to him.

Prussia blushed, she did _not_ want to relive that memory from her past. She remembered that she had been so embarrassed and guilty after kissing him, that she ran away.

After the silver haired woman did not respond, Varyn asked her a question, "So was that you? I mean the woman looked very similar to you. But why were her eyes only red and not more violet like yours? And why did I call her Julchen?"

"Ja, ja, that was me. That was the earlier version of mein awesome self as the Teutonic Order. I think it was around 1420, I was able to pin you down because it was just after I was at the height of my power. But the reason for the differences in my appearance were because after I became a vassal of Poland, and transformed into the awesome Duchy of Prussia, my eyes turned more violet, why? I don't know. I calmed down with this change in my life, and I attempted to be more ladylike and cultured. So I had my name changed from Julchen to Julia, I grew out my hair to look less like the tomboy I was as the Teutonic Knights, and I converted to Lutheranism, the first nation to do so." What Prussia didn't want to add, was that the real reason she grew out her hair, was to attempt to be more attractive to Reikland, as he had been in a relationship with Valérie for a while, and she had long, beautiful flowing hair. So Prussia tried to mimic that.

"I guess that makes sense." Reikland responded. There was a long pause then, the two didn't move and the whole situation turned awkward. Then the grey eyed nation shocked her as he made another question.

"Prussia, who is Valérie?"

 _Wait, what? He doesn't remember her?!_

"S-sorry, w-what did you say?" The silver-haired woman stammered.

"Valérie. I mentioned that name in the memory with you. Apparently I had a relationship with whoever that is?"

Julia didn't know how to respond. How was she going to explain to him about her?

"W-Well, Valérie Rûchout was the name of the human form of the Duchy of Burgundy in the medieval ages." Prussia stopped, she didn't want to continue on.

Varyn persisted, "And? What was my relationship with her? What did she look like?"

The albino took a deep breath and began to explain, "Well, she was a beautiful woman, tall, at least five or six centimeters taller than me, and she had long flowing dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Around 1360 you made an alliance with her, and a while later the two of you fell in love. You would have each other's back often and supported each other all the time. In fact, since she owned most of the Low Countries, you and she would end up raising The Netherlands and Belgium. That is why the two of them called you "papa" the other day."

"So that's why they did that, I was so confused at first. But what happened to her?"

The Prussian found it hard to tell this to the man, as they had been lovers before. She sighed as she tried to answer him the best she could. "Because she had inherited so much land in the Low Countries, the mid-French region, and all the areas between, like Lorraine and Luxembourg, she became a threat to the major powers next to her. And so when she had a succession crisis, and because she was technically still a vassal under the French king, France killed her as he wanted no opposition to his growing power, and he and Austria divided the lands between them in 1477."

Reikland just sat in silence for a while, contemplating. Soon after he spoke up. "Wow, I-I don't really know what to say. I feel guilty for not remembering any of that."

Hearing this, Prussia's heart ached.

 _How could he talk like that?_

She hugged his back tightly and tried to reassure him, "Reikland, please don't say things like that. This whole thing is my fault anyways."

"It's okay Julia, I'm not blaming you. And besides, let's not dwell on negative things right now when we can watch this sight unfold before us." Reikland said, gazing at the sunrise once more.

After a while it began to warm up and Prussia checked her phone for time.

 _Holy scheiße! It's 6:40! We've been here for almost an hour and a half!_

"Reikland it's almost a quarter to seven. We should go inside and eat." The albino informed.

Reikland slowly got up and stretched out his body, like a cat that had basked in the sun for too long. "Man, we've been out here that long?" He yawned, "Very well, what do you want for breakfast?"

The Prussian was surprised by this, "Reikland you don't have to do that for me, it's okay, I can make us breakfast. And besides, I bet you don't even remember where everything is in the kitchen."

"Well maybe we can do it together. I want to help out as much as possible, as I don't think I will be engaged in my nation-status obligations for the time being."

 _Damn! I forgot about that! I guess I'll have to take up his responsibilities until he gets his memories back._

The Prussian smiled though.

 _Maybe it will be fun to have things the other way around. I mean whenever I stay with him, I usually do whatever I can to help out with chores and meals and such. It would be cool to have it the opposite way._

"Yeah, I don't see you being able to do them for a while. But in the meantime, I'm up for some pancakes!"

Reikland's P.O.V.

A little while later, and after some fooling around in the kitchen, the two had made a full batch of blueberry pancakes, which was entirely too much for them. So when they finished they put them in the fridge as leftovers.

"Dang that was good," Varyn yawned, "I can start cleaning the dishes if you want to… do whatever nations do in their free time."

"Alright, danke liebe." The Prussian stood up, hugged the dirty blonde, and walked away to go upstairs. "I'm going to take a shower, feel free to join in if you want!" She called from the steps.

The man chuckled and started to put the dishes in the sink to rinse them when he felt a wet object nuzzle his hand. He looked down to see Värjö sniffing his hand.

"Hey buddy, you smell the pancakes? Sorry but you can't have any."

The wolf looked up at him and whimpered, almost as if he could understand him.

 _Can he…?_ Reikland thought for a second. _No, No he's just a wolf… an immortal wolf… that has been with me for over two thousand years…_ He shook his head and decided to ask Julia later.

He looked back at the wolf that was staring at him with huge cute eyes. Reikland gave in and ended up giving him lick the spoon they used to stir the batter.

After a while, Reikland finished cleaning and putting everything away and went upstairs to take a shower of his own. When he entered their bedroom and got undressed with only a towel wrapped around him, Prussia stepped out of the misty bathroom, a towel on her head and one covering her main body. Reikland blushed when seeing her, she really was extremely beautiful, especially seeing this much of her. She opened her violet-red eyes and grinned at the sight of him and pulled him into her.

"Var (a nickname she often uses), you're going to have to let me do what I want with you soon. It's been far too long since the last time." She smirked and bit his neck softly.

Reikland gently pushed her off of him and grinned, "All in dear time Julia, however please wait until I actually can remember the last time."

The Prussian crossed her arms and huffed, clearly unsatisfied, and went to change. The Nordic nation simply laughed and stepped into the already misty bathroom. When he was done with his shower he entered the now empty bedroom and changed into some casual clothes. When he was about halfway done, he heard a doorbell ring from the front door. He then heard Prussia open the door and greet whoever was down there, but he could only distinguish one male voice.

"Julia! Who's there?" He called out.

He didn't hear anything but some distant whispers then. So Varyn rushed to put on the rest of his clothes and went downstairs. When he finally came into the main lobby he saw Prussia standing with two men. The first was a tall, not as tall as Reikland, but tall dirty blonde young man with a black trench coat and red cuffs. His hair actually reminded Reikland of his own, in style and in colour; it was a lighter blonde but it was pushed upwards to his left. He grinned madly when he saw Varyn. The other young man was shorter, with medium length, straight, light blonde hair which had an upside down cross in it. He looked very bored and was wearing a navy blue sailor-looking outfit that had a lighter blue collar and cuffs. The taller man walked up to Reikland and patted him on his back quite roughly.

"Hey Bro! How are you doing! Heard this bitch over here hurled you off a bridge! Hahahaha! Can you believe that?! Of course you can, you were there! Anyways how've you been?! Lukas and I here have been worried sick about you! What with you not even showing up to the second meeting, only to hear that you're comatose! Oh, you wouldn't believe the looks on everyone else there! We were all shocked! But I knew you'd be fine, I mean just look you! With everyone talking like you're a vegetable, but here you are up and about! So how you've been holding up?! Has Prussia apologized with an all-nighter love session?! I heard that make-up sex is great!"

When the energetic man finally shut up, Reikland's ears felt like they had been mentally and physically assaulted. But he smiled and rubbed the back of his head,

"U-Uh, sorry to say this, but I don't recognize you."

The man's jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes flew open wide, "W-WHAT?!" He shouted in disbelief, he then turned his head to Prussia, "J-Julia! How hard did you hit his head?!"

The albino looked very irritated and crossed her arms, "Well _dummkopf_ , I was about to tell you guys what has happened."

The man in the black trench coat rushed over to her and shook her shoulders, "What?! What is it?! Will Varyn die?! What did you do?! Why can't he remember one of his best friends?! Just tell me already!"

Prussia was very surprised at being shook, but shoved the man off of her. " _Verdammt_! Would you just calm down?! Varyn is going to be fine! However..." The albino stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, "because of the fall, Varyn has currently lost all his memories and will not be able recognize anyone from his past."

Both of the men looked shocked. Well, if you could call the shorter man opening his eyes slightly more a shocked expression. "What? Prussia how can this happen to a nation? You must have pushed him really hard." Asked the shorter man, speaking for the first time. His voice was surprisingly lower than the taller man.

Prussia blushed and looked embarrassed. "I don't know! I didn't mean for this to happen okay?! I can only imagine that it is because of the severe blunt force trauma that he received from falling 30 meters onto a rock with his head."

"30 METERS?!" The tall blonde shouted, he turned his head to Varyn, "oh Reikland you poor thing! No wonder you don't remember us! This _køter_ tried to up and kill you!"

" _GOTTVERDAMMT_ MATHIAS! I DID NOT TRY TO KILL HIM! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" The Prussian screamed, losing her temper.

"Wait, you said Mathias?" Asked Reikland, trying to change their attention from arguing.

"Yep, that's my name!" Grinned the blonde in the trench coat, jabbing a thumb to himself.

"I heard that name in one of my dreams. I can only imagine that you two are nations also?"

"Bingo!" He shouted, "I'm the wonderful nation of Denmark!" He then pointed to the shorter blonde, "and that _tsundere_ over there named Lukas is Norway!"

"For the last time I am not a _tsundere_!" The Norwegian shouted in anger.

"Oh yes you totally are! Just yesterday when I tried to give you a hug, you kicked me in the crotch! Even after all we've been through together!" The Danish man looked fake hurt.

Lukas crosses his arms and looked away, "I just like my personal space okay?" He huffed.

"Whatever you say!" Mathias responded sarcastically. "Anyways, so Reikland, you don't remember us at all?"

"Well, I heard your name in my dream, like I said, but personally I have no idea who you are, sorry."

"Well that sucks!" Denmark yelled, plopping down on one of the couches.

"Don't worry Mathias, we're all on the same boat here." Prussia said, leaning on one of the walls.

"But you did say you had a dream with me in it?" The Dane asked.

"Well I only mentioned the name Mathias, I was with a nation that I called Wales and I said something about not wanting to join your union."

The man smiled, "Ah yes, I remember gloriously conquering you in the 1370's"

"Too bad you were kicked out in only twelve years!" Julia retorted.

"Whatever," the Dane pouted, and then turned to Varyn, "anyways, Varyn, Lukas and I will do anything we can to help you get your memories back. So if you need anything, just let us know okay? We hope you get better soon."

"A-Alright Denmark, thank you." Reikland stuttered, not expecting the obnoxious man to man a genuinely kind offer.

The two nations soon left, leaving Julia and Varyn alone. After doing some more chores and fooling around together for the rest of the day, the couple went to sleep again. And this time, Reikland was prepared for any dream that came his way.

Translations:

German:

 _Danke liebe_ = Thanks love

 _Dummkopf_ = stupid, moron

 _Verdammt_ = dammit

 _Gottverdammt_ = god dammit

 _Scheiße_ = Shit

Danish:

 _Køter_ = bitch


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

-First Impressions-

11th of November, 1215 A.D.

Rome, Papal States

Beginning of the 4th Council of the Lateran

Note: Innocent III was the current pope at the time.

 _Ugh, I really hate these councils, they are long, boring as hell, and usually no progress is made._

Varyn settled down and sat in his seat in the large pier and waited for everyone else to be seated as Innocent III commanded for the council to begin. The room was crowded with patriarchs, bishops, abbots, and envoys from the many kings of Europe. Varyn himself was the envoy representing Davyd, the King of Reikland. As he scanned the room, he saw some other nations present as well, France, England, and Hungary were all present. Including envoys from the Holy Roman Empire, Cyprus, Aragon, the Latin Empire, and Jerusalem.

 _I wonder if Elizaveta is still embarrassed about the whole thing between us. Should I talk to her? I haven't in a while since it happened. No, that would just make things awkward._

As Reikland sat down, Innocent III quieted the crowd and called for the council to start.

"As we have gathered here in the holy city of Rome, we must be prepared to be unanimous in any decision agreed upon and unified in any resolution reached, am I understood?"

A murmur of agreements followed and the pope, being satisfied, continued;

"Now this council will be the subject of many matters, great and small. The first on hand is the planning of a new crusade against the Muslim heathens that plague the holy lands. This cannot be allowed to continue after we have fought with such vigor already to free them."

"And to destroy and split apart our greatest ally and only buffer from the Turks in the east." a man called out from the crowd. An exchange of gasps and laughter were heard and the pope again silenced the commotion.

"It is true, the Fourth Crusade did not go as planned, and that it did not accomplish what we had hoped, but I believe that with God's will and with the right leadership, we faithful Christians can again prevail in the East!"

"What are you suggesting?" Another man asked.

Innocent III slightly smiled and answered, "I propose that unlike the last crusades, which have been under the leadership of the armies that were sent, this new crusade should be led directly by the Catholic Church itself."

A large clamour rose up, especially from the envoys and nations that were sent, but after a few minutes, order was restored.

"I know that this may not please the various kings, dukes, and counts that send troops-" the pope began before he was cut off.

"You're damn right! I'm not going to send men halfway across the earth only to be led by some priest!" Shouted England.

The pope scolded the nation and continued, "As I was saying, I know that many of you will be against this, but see it like this; in the past, our leaders that were sent often argued with one another, they weren't always loyal to the cause that was agreed upon, they sometimes carved out their own kingdoms in the east, they branched out from the main armies and foiled the plans of the crusades themselves. This is why we must have one leader agreed upon, one man to lead our men unified under the name of Christianity, and one man to have his voice heard over all else."

Again there was a commotion in the group, many agreeing, some not, and some undecided. After a while though the whole crowd eventually agreed, except for England, stubborn as ever. Innocent III then asked around to see which nations would send men, supplies, or money for the crusade. Hungary was the first to accept, stating that she and her king would gladly join the fight. Next the envoy from Austria said that his duke would likely send troops and even go to the holy lands himself. Gradually more and more men proclaimed their support for the crusade, including a count from Holland, the Duke of Bavaria, the Latin Empire, and Cyprus.

When it came to France however, he was hesitant,

"I am sad to say that unlike in the past, the King of France will not be able to send many men for the cause, as we are already at war with the heretical Cathars in the south of France right now. We will need all the manpower and supplies available at the moment to defeat them. However, I will see if there are some lords that will take the cross."

The pope seemed content with what the French nation said, "Thank you Francis, that would be most helpful." He then turned to the Celtic nation, "Varyn, you have been silent this whole time, what do you have to say? Will King Davyd join in on the crusade?"

With being acknowledged, Reikland stood up, "It is very possible that Davyd will send men and supplies. However, seeing the immense failure of the Fourth Crusade just over a decade ago, and the fact that Reikland has just finished a war with the Holy Roman Empire, the King himself will likely not be as enthusiastic to take the up the Cross. But as France has said previously, I will try to raise some men to support the crusade."

As he stopped talking the crowd again broke off into many discussions. But Reikland wasn't finished. He cleared his throat and started again, "But if I might make a suggestion?" He called out.

The pope again silenced the room and looked to Reikland, "You were saying?"

"Even though my kinsmen might not be able to participate much in this next crusade, I would like to make a proposal." He paused for a bit and then continued, "For nearly a century and a half we have attempted to reclaim the Holy Land and Christianize it, all in vain. We have been in a constant power struggle with these great Muslim states and kingdoms and have had major success and defeats from them. However, Europe; the symbol of Christianity, is not completely Christian itself!"

"What are you talking about?" A man called out from behind him.

"I am talking about the Baltics! Those lands to the east which have evaded the Christian faith for centuries and have remained pagan! There have been minor crusades in the past, mainly from the kings and dukes of Poland, but these have all failed. The tribes which occupy these lands are fierce and will not bend the knee to any foreign power. So I propose that before we attempt to cleanse the holy lands, we should make Europe itself entirely Christian. Let us instead send men to these lands in support of the Poles and drive the pagans out. The Swedes have recently done so with the Finns, why not us?"

When Reikland had finished and sat back down again, there was a murmur in the masses of the men who had gathered there. Again Innocent III had to quiet them and turned to him.

"What you have proposed, Varyn, I am interested in, but our main priority at the time is the holy lands. Perhaps after a success in the east, then we may be able to organize a crusade in the Baltics. But until then, we must be like I mentioned before, unified in our decision. So I must then ask you, are you prepared to send men and supplies to the holy lands, and to put off these intentions for now?"

Reikland couldn't be angered, it was more than he had hoped for, so he agreed to join the cause, but again informed how he would not be able to send many of any resource. The pope seemed content with that and continued on with the council.

As the council progressed for the next two weeks, plans for the crusade were set, King Frederick II was proclaimed emperor of The Holy Roman Empire, and many minor reforms to the church were made. All together it was a very eventful council, much to Reikland's surprise. But eventually it came to a close and Varyn had to return home.

 _Time skip to 1240 A.D._

West of the city of Elbing

Reikland was excited, his plans had finally come into fruition. After pope Innocent III listened to his ideas of the Baltics, and then proceeded to die a less than year later, Varyn persisted and convinced the next pope, Honorius III to also intact his plans. But he so died not too long after. It wasn't until after the successful sixth crusade, in 1229, was Reikland then able to persuade the next pope, Gregory IX to finally put into place his plans to christianize the Baltics. When the Teutonic Order was finally called from the holy lands to engage in this endeavour, and had been granted any lands gained in conquest in the Baltic region, Varyn himself was sent as an envoy (because it was his idea in the first place) to check up on the Order's status and to resupply them with fresh troops and supplies from Reikland.

As he was traveling to one of the Order's main settlements of Elbing, he sent the many soldiers he was marching with onwards, as he wanted to explore the lands a little by himself. As he galloped through one of the many forests, with Värjö running at his side, he stopped at a clearing in the woods when he spotted a deer far off in the distance. He dismounted and sent Värjö to cover any escape route that the deer might try to use (Värjö and Varyn can communicate with each other in a very simplistic way). Varyn then drew his bow and slowly crept closer to the deer, eventually putting his back to a tree, hidden from its sight. He drew an arrow and knocked it onto his bow, then he drew back the string and aimed, his eyes focused on the brown animal in front of him. As his breathing steadied and as he was about to launch the arrow into his prey, a loud rustling was heard to his right. The deer looked up and then bolted away into the distance, Reikland still shot his arrow, but in vain, the deer was long gone.

"Dammit Värjö! We are hunting! Don't you know how to be stealthy?!" He called out to the wolf.

But then Värjö came into sight from his left side.

"Wait, the sound I heard was from the right, so if it wasn't you…"

Varyn then heard a high-pitched cry of pain from the same direction as before. He then rushed to see what had produced the sound. A short distance away, Reikland came upon another clearing in which he saw a small child grasping its leg. Varyn advanced closer and noticed the silvery-grey hair of the child. When he had finally come into view of the child, it stared up at him in fear and backed away until it reached a tree trunk. The child then rushed behind the tree, with an obvious limp. Worried, Reikland called out in reassurance,

"Hey kid! I'm not going to hurt you! Are you okay? I can bring you to the rest of my men and get you some help!"

After waiting for a few moments, a silver haired face peeked out from the side of the tree and stared at him.

"I promise, I'm not here to harm you. I can see that you are hurt. Where are your parents?"

The child then finally spoke up, "Y-You're not going t-to hurt me?" The voice sounded feminine and had a Low German accent to it.

 _Then it must be a girl, she doesn't look like one though_

"Of course not, who would hurt a small child?"

The girl finally stepped out from behind the tree and took a short step closer to him. He noticed how short her hair was, she also had red eyes. Sure they were different, but also kind of cute in a way.

 _An albino, I've never really met one before_

Reikland didn't really care though so he continued, "Now, what is your name, little lady?"

The girl looked taken aback and didn't respond.

"No name? I guess then I shall grant you one! Let's see, what is a good name for a girl? Maybe-"

Reikland stopped as he heard a faint mumble from the girl, "What was that?"

"It's J-Julchen." the girl muttered softly.

"Julchen? Quite an interesting name, I haven't of it before. Though perhaps it suites your intriguing appearance."

Again the girl didn't respond and Reikland was feeling a little weirded out.

"So Julchen, are you going to talk to me or what? I can get you help for your leg."

Julchen finally spoke again, however she avoided his eye contact, "I'm sorry mister…" she trailed off, not knowing his name.

Reikland smiled and bowed down to the little girl, "Varyn Fjøsson at your service M'lady."

The girl giggled slightly but then her red eyes opened wide in surprise, "Wait, you mean that you are…" Julchen trailed off again and averted her eyes once more, "Reikland?"

"The very same." Varyn smiled.

"Well I'm sorry mister Reikland, I was a little surprised, because almost everyone assumes that I am a boy when they first meet me. That is if they don't try to burn me or drive me away, claiming that I am a witch or some demon."

Reikland was shocked to hear this, how could someone do that to an innocent child?

"Is it because of your albinism?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

The girl nodded and shyly looked away.

"Well Julchen, I do not care that you are an albino. In fact, I think that it is awesome that you are so unique! Not many people are albino, so you should feel special!"

Julchen looked back at him in awe, staring at him with those cute little red eyes, "Y-you think that I am a-awesome?" she stuttered, probably not used to being complimented on her strange appearance.

Reikland took a step closer and knelt down in front of her and grinned, "Yes, I do. Now how did you hurt your leg, and where are your parents?"

As Julchen was about to answer, a giant dark grey wolf burst through the bushes close by with a rabbit in its mouth. It then proceeded to drop the rabbit and make its way to the little girl, who, petrified by fear, stood still. The wolf then stopped when it was close enough and sniffed her curiously. Julchen responded by whimpering and turning to Reikland for help. Varyn chuckled and stood up.

"Värjö! Down!" he commanded. The wolf obeyed and sat his rump on the ground, still staring at the albino girl.

Julchen stared at the two of them in astonishment and tried to speak cohesively, but failed, "Y-You… c-can c-control t-that… thing?!" she managed to stutter.

Reikland again smiled and patted the wolf on his head, "There is no need to fear Julchen, Värjö here wouldn't hurt a fly without my command. He is mainly harmless."

"A-And if y-you did command h-him to?" she asked, still not trusting the giant wolf. Reikland couldn't blame her though, Värjö could be **very** intimidating.

"Better hope to not find out. But he is the best companion a nation could ever have, I mean the two of us have been together through thick and thin for more than a millennia!"

Seeing that the girl still had not moved from her spot, Reikland tried to make her feel more comfortable around the large wolf.

"You know, if you still are afraid of him, try petting him."

"Are you sure he won't try to bite my hand off?" she asked.

Reikland put one hand on his heart and bowed, "I promise on my life that you will be safe."

And so, the silver haired girl hesitantly limped towards the wolf with a hand stretched out. As she got within touching distance, she stopped and didn't continue any further. With this strange sight, Värjö tilted his head in a very cute puppyish manner. Julchen smiled and finally put a hand on the fur by his shoulders. She started to move her hand back and forth and she grinned,

"His fur is so soft!" she exclaimed.

As she continued to rub his backside and his head, Värjö leaned in and started to lick her face. Julchen giggled and laughed.

"See? I told you he was harmless!" Reikland snickered at the sight of the girl being licked vigorously by the wolf that greatly outweighed her. Eventually the wolf tried to climb on top of the smaller girl and he licked more fiercely.

"Okay Värjö, that's enough." Varyn commanded, pulling him off of the girl. "Sorry about that, he can kind of get a little too friendly sometimes."

Julchen was still smiling despite it all, "No, It's okay." she said, standing up and brushing herself off.

"Now, do you want to tell me what happened?" Reikland asked, gesturing to her bandaged leg.

Julchen timidly glanced at the injury, she then took a deep breath and began to explain, "W-Well this is from a day ago when on a trip to the nearest town, I was attacked by a group of villagers who wanted to kick me out, claiming I was a demon. I tried to escape as fast as I could, but one of the peasants stabbed my leg with a sickle. I only managed to limp away into the woods where I was hiding until you found me."

Reikland was horrified, stabbing a small child? A girl nonetheless? He felt a wave of sympathy wash over him for the albino girl, he then vowed to help this child in any way possible.

"May I see the wound?" he asked, wanting to examine it.

Julchen very hesitantly agreed and as Varyn unwrapped the blood soaked bandage, he got a closer look. What he saw astonished him, the wound looked mostly healed! The gash had mainly sealed and the skin was surrounding still was already clearing up.

Reikland then suspiciously glanced at the girl, "Julchen, this wound looks nearly healed, and about a few weeks old. Either you have some magical powers, or you're lying to me."

The albino then embarrassingly looked away and didn't answer him. Reikland was getting more skeptical by the moment.

"Julchen, where are your parents?"

After a few moments of silence, the girl finally looked towards him and spoke, "Okay fine, I give up. I am not just a little girl, I am the representation of the Teutonic Order itself. I was sent to this horrid place by the pope in order to Christianize the Baltics. But I hate it here! The holy lands were much better! There, people wouldn't hurt me for what I looked like, they barely even cared! It was warm all the time, but here it is rainy and cold! I felt at home there with my friends! Now I am stuck here with this huge task upon my hands, along with the natives trying to burn me at the stake! I wish that I vas never sent here!" When she was done, she had tears welling in her red eyes, and her whole face was flushed.

Reikland was at the very least surprised. Why would there be a representation of a relatively new military order?

 _Then again, there is one for the Knights Hospitaller._ (This character will eventually evolve into Malta)

Reikland also felt guilty, he was the main reason why she was sent here. But he didn't even know that she existed! How could anyone blame him? Varyn sighed, "I never would have thought, usually when a new entity is born, the rest of the nations find out pretty swiftly, but you, you must be fifty years old already! But I do guess that explains the healing factor, and your unusual appearance, but I don't get it, did you not have any bodyguards or men protecting you when you were hurt?"

Julchen shook her head, "No, I was alone. The knights don't usually like to be around me, and they neglect me quite frequently. That is partially why I hate it here so much, I am very lonely."

Again Reikland felt guilty for having caused this, but perhaps he shouldn't mention that now. But maybe he could help her out, that was the reason he was there in the first place.

"How dare they! Well Julchen, you need worry no more, because I promise to you that I will do anything in my power to aid you! If you are wondering what a nation like me is doing here, I was sent to check up on the status of the Teutonic Order and to resupply you with men and supplies. So while I am staying here, I will try to help you in any way possible. Don't fret little one, things will change for the better."

With this being said, Reikland carried Julchen in his arms to his horse that he had left behind, and together they rode to the encampment that the Reikish troops had set up some leagues to the north east, all with Värjö sprinting at their side. When they finally reached the camp, the sun was beginning to set and one of Varyn's lords came up to greet them.

"Varyn, it is good to see you my _argevylde!_

We have been waiting patiently for your return, but by your orders we set up camp for the night." The man then noticed the girl clinging onto his back. "I-I see that you have brought a guest, an albino one too."

"Ah, Syr Yorrun! I am glad to know that I was well missed by my fellow _cyraddei!_ You have done a good job of leading the men in my absence, I shall remember this! But if I might have a word with you alone?"

"O-Of course my _argevylde!_ "

Reikland led Julchen to a man trained in the medical arts to help her leg. As he left her in the man's care, he went with Syr Yorrun to a secluded area of the camp to talk.

"What do you want to speak to me about, Syr Varyn?" The man asked, slightly scared.

"Do not be afraid my friend, I only wish to discuss the girl." Reikland whispered.

"Yes, I was wondering why you brought that _djavel_ with you!" he cried.

"First off, don't call her that or anything negative ever, and I mean **ever** again. Second, this girl is to be treated like the Queen of Reikland herself, now and for forever. We will care for her every need and treat her like royalty. Third, she will be addressed to kindly and with respect at all times. Fourth, no harm or insult shall come to her in any way. Fifth, as long as it is not unreasonable, everything this girl requests or asks for, shall be carried out. I will expect all of these things from you, and every man in this entire camp, do I make myself clear?" Reikland demanded.

Syr Yorrun had shrunk several inches away from Varyn and nodded his head fiercely, "Y-Yes Syr!"

"Good, because if I hear or witness any of these actions not being carried out by you or one of our men, I will not hesitate to personally castrate that man in the slowest and most painful way possible. Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes Syr! I shall relieve this command to everyone in the camp!" Syr Yorrun started to walk away when he stopped and asked, "But if I may inquire, what is so special about this girl?"

"Why I am glad you asked." Varyn grinned, "This fine lady is the incarnation of the Teutonic Order, and you and all the men I have brought to these lands shall serve her loyally until your deaths."

Translations:

Reikish:

 _Argevylde_ : lord/commander

 _Cyraddei_ : comrade/companion

Djavel: devil

Syr: sir


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

-Daily Antics-

June 15th, 2015

Reikland P.O.V.

Varyn awoke to the sound of the woman sleeping next to him crying out.

 _God Dammit. Again?_

"No, no, no, no, no…" The albino mumbled, still asleep.

Reikland sat up and looked at the Prussian in his bed, pain was plastered on her face.

 _Why does this keep happening?_

Reikland got closer and shook the ex-nation awake, "Julia. Julia, wake up, you're having another nightmare."

When her eyes finally opened, the albino looked confused, like she didn't know where she was. Her eyes then met Reikland's and she gasped, she sat up and embraced him tightly, crushing him with her impressive strength. "Reikland!" she called out, "You're still here! You didn't forget about me!"

Varyn felt like he was being stepped on by an elephant, but he put up with it and patted her head lightly, "Hey, I'm here, it's okay, I didn't forget about you… again."

She looked up at him and buried her face in his chest. "Please don't leave me Varyn. I-I couldn't handle that."

Reikland tried to comfort her the best he could, but he still felt new to the whole relationship thing. "I won't Julia, I promise. Did you have the same dream?" he asked. For the past couple days, the Prussian had been having a recurring nightmare in which everyone she knew didn't recognize her, and the ex-nation drifted away from the current world, only remaining as a distant memory.

"Yes." she mumbled.

"Do you think it's because of what happened to me that is causing it?"

"I can only assume so, the only other time I had it was when you and I…" she trailed off, not continuing.

"When you and I what?" The Nordic nation asked.

"N-Never mind." She said quickly.

 _She's hiding something_

Reikland though shrugged it off and the two got out of bed and got ready for the day. First by showering separately, much to the Prussian's dismay. Then by getting changed. Well only Reikland was putting on clothes, Prussia however, stood in only her underwear, much to the dirty blonde's confusion.

"Aren't you going to put on some clothes?" he asked, while also admiring her gorgeous body.

"Why should I? Is it because you don't like my awesome figure?" she retorted, posing in front of him.

"I never said that." He said, slightly blushing.

"Of course you didn't." The albino walked over to him and pecked his cheek with her lips. "Besides, we don't have to see anybody today."

"Okay then, whatever you say."

The Prussian then put a hand to her head and grimaced. "Ugh, I need a beer." She then proceeded to go head downstairs. Reikland chuckled and finished putting on his clothes. When he almost done, he heard a mournful; "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from the first floor.

"What the hell?" he said to himself as he checked to see what happened. When he reached the kitchen, Reikland saw a certain silver haired woman slumped on the ground next to an open fridge, looking very crestfallen.

"Julia, what happened?" he asked worriedly.

"WE ARE OUT OF BEER!" she sobbed, like the world had come to an end.

"So?" He asked, confused as hell.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND REIKLAND, I NEED MY ALCOHOL!" She yelled.

"So we can go out to the store and get some, I don't see what the problem is here."

"Ugh! But that would require me to get dressed!" She whimpered.

"Well it's either that, or no beer for you." Varyn said, putting his hands on his hips, "It's your choice."

Prussia's eyes lit up and she quickly got to her feet, "I'll get ready!" She then ran upstairs half naked to get changed.

Reikland smiled and thought to himself,

 _How was I lucky enough to get her?_

She was funny, beautiful, kind in some ways, confident, and very seductive. All were pluses in his book.

As she was getting dressed, Reikland played around with Värjö, playing tug of war with a toy of his, and he also went to feed Jilbird some bird food. When he heard footsteps from the stairs he looked and saw that she was wearing a simple red tank top, a black mini skirt, and some converse. While she still looked pretty in what she was wearing, Reikland couldn't help but comment on her attire. "Nothing too special eh?"

Prussia put her hands in her hips as glared at him. "We're going to the store to buy alcohol. I don't need to look like a fucking princess Varyn."

Reikland chuckled to himself and walked towards the door, opening it for her. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

 _*Le time skip*_

When they drove back into the driveway and exited the car, Prussia still was ranting about how they didn't have here favorite brand of beer.

"Prussia, you've got to remember, 'beggars can't be choosers'. And besides, my beer isn't too bad."

"Yeah its fine, but no offense Reikland, it's nothing like German beer."

"You just have to find the right brand, that's all."

As they walked closer to the entrance, they noticed a rather sizable package laying on their doorstep.

"Huh, must have been dropped off while we were gone."

Reikland, who was already carrying the beer and some other groceries, motioned for Prussia to pick it up.

"Come on Julia, it doesn't look that heavy, besides I'm already carrying all the stuff from the store."

"So gentlemen like, Varyn." Prussia teased, but she picked it up anyways and the two went inside. Went they had put everything away, Prussia cracked open a beer and started drinking it when she came over to the counter where the package was sitting.

"Ah, that's more like it, cold beer. Who's the package from?" She asked, leaning her elbow on the counter.

Reikland grabbed a knife and began to open the box, "Let's find out."

When he opened it, there was a note on top of whatever was inside. He pulled it out and read it out loud; " _We hope you get better soon Reikland, from: your friends in the British Isles"_

"Friends in the British Isles?" Reikland asked confused, he turned to the Prussian, "Julia, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the nations of Reikland and the U.K. have a huge rivalry in the past?"

" _Ja_ , they did, but you and England have become closer over the years. And also, the Reikish people have always been friends with the other Celtics. Anyways, what's inside?"

As Reikland pulled out the containments of the box, they found out that they had received food from each nation. There was black pudding from Scotland, soda bread from Northern Ireland, leek soup from Wales, Shepard's pie from Ireland, and scones from England. Also, there was some Guinness beer included.

"Dammit! We just went out and bought beer!" The albino exclaimed, pouting.

"So, now we have extra! But really, they didn't have to send me all this food. However, it does look good." Reikland said, licking his lips.

"Oh, about that." Prussia proceeded to take the English scones and carry them to the trash can.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Reikland yelled.

"Trust me on this Varyn, you don't want to eat anything from England, you'll likely die."

"Prussia! I will not rudely throw away food that someone else kindly put time into making just for me! Now if you don't mind, I would at least like to try it."

Julia shrugged, "Suit yourself." She handed the container of scones to him.

" _Taka._ " Reikland opened the container and looked inside at what looked to be ordinary biscuits. "Oh, I thought they would be more… pastry-like." He picked one up and sniffed it, "oh well, can't be too bad." He said, taking a large bit out of it.

He then proceeded to throw up for the next twenty minutes into the toilet.

"I warned you." Prussia called from the entrance to the bathroom, staring at the puking man.

"N-Never in god's name did I ever think something could taste as foul as that… abomination." He said between coughing. "I mean how?! How can someone be so bad at baking?!"

"Beats me." Julia shrugged, helping the Nordic up.

"Well I think we both know what needs to be done." Reikland stated solemnly.

Julia nodded and brought the container to the garbage, before being stopped by Reikland again. "What?" She asked in confusion.

"No, we must burn them, so that no creature on this planet ever has to endure the pain that I just went through."

Prussia laughed and together they burnt the container in the fireplace.

"The deed is done." Prussia remarked, as the two nations stared at the horror that was England's cooking, burned to ashes.

"Are the other nations' food just as bad?" Reikland inquired.

"No, just England's"

"Wow, must suck to be him."

Prussia again laughed, " _Ja_! I would hate to have eyebrows that thick!"

"Are his eyebrows large?"

"Oh you better believe it! They look like two bushy caterpillars crawled on his forehead and died!"

"Oh man! You got to show me a picture!"

" _Ja_! Let's go find one!"

 _*Le time skip*_

After eating some of the food that was sent to them, and laughing at a certain English man, the couple sat down for the afternoon and relaxed. Reikland sat in a chair reading a book, while Prussia was playing with Jilbird. But the albino got bored after a while and walked over to Reikland. When she got close enough, the Celtic nation still didn't notice her, still transfixed by his reading. She then plopped down onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Reikland was quite startled and dropped his book. "Prussia! What was that for?" He asked.

"Reikland, the awesome me is bored, let's do something." She begged, resting her head on his shoulder

"Okay, what do you want to do?"

The Prussian thought about it for a moment before an idea sprang up into her mind. "Reikland, can you carry me around outside?"

"Carry you? Why do you want to do that?" He questioned, very flustered by her request.

"Could you just do it for me? Please?" The albino pleaded, staring at him with her cute red-violet eyes.

 _How can I say no to that?_

The dirty blonde sighed, "Okay fine, let's go." He said as he picked up the woman bridal style to the door.

The Prussian squealed in excitement, "Yay!" As they made their way outside, Värjö and Jilbird following them. As they exited the house and stepped into the green outdoors, Reikland stopped and looked down at the ex-nation he was holding.

"So what do you want me to do? Just run around carrying you?"

" _Ja_ , that would be perfect." Julia responded, cuddling up to the larger man.

"Okay then." And so, the couple spent the rest of the afternoon and evening fooling around outside, with Prussia being either carried bridal style, or receiving a piggyback ride by the grey eyed man. Värjö and Jilbird would also chase the two, but eventually Reikland got tired and had to stop, so he put the albino down by a tree on top of a hill, and he leaned onto the tree with his back. The sun had begun to sink into the horizon, and the day was coming to a close.

"T-That… w-was fun." He said between breaths.

"Reikland?"

"Yeah?" The Nordic turned to the red eyed woman who was just centimeters from his face. She then draped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long and passionate kiss. Reikland was taken aback at first, but he soon relaxed into it, soon kissing back. This was the first real kiss they had shared since before the accident, and the two cherished every moment of it. After what seemed like hours, the two had to break apart to breath. "Thanks for making this an awesome day for me."

"Your welcome, Julia." Reikland responded, slowly getting up and stretching, before being pulled right back down to the ground, followed by the Prussian getting on top of him and pinning him to the ground. "Oh jou aren't going anywhere mister, your ass is staying right here with me."

"Eh?" Reikland made out weakly, before being wrapped in a bear hug from the red eyed woman. Her grip on him was strong and he couldn't move, so after a while he relaxed into it and didn't attempt to break free. But after a couple of minutes of the albino laying on top of him Reikland was starting to wonder if she was even awake, "Are we just going to lay here?"

A muffled "Yup." was all he heard.

"Well okay then." Varyn relaxed even more and wrapped his arms around her waist. The two nations lay there as the setting, yet still bright sun warmed their bodies. Eventually, Värjö and Jilbird rested on either side of the couple, and they gently dozed off into sleep for the night.

Translations:

Taka: Reikish for 'Thank You'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

-S.P.Q.R.-

May, 67 A.D.

On the coast of southern Askroltia

(Reikland in Latin is Askroltia)

Rome P.O.V.

"Finally, we have landed! For a while I thought that these lands were just a myth!"

The great Roman man exclaimed, hopping off of his flagship and onto the shores of the famous Askroltia. After the great fire of Rome a few years back, Emperor Nero launched an invasion upon these so called 'resource rich' lands to rally support for him and to distract the people from his past mistakes. He had gathered six of the legions who were not off fighting the Jews in their revolt and sent them across the sea.

As more ships arrived and landed on the shores, the whole contingent of the six legions that were sent (about 30,000 men) had gathered on the beaches and started to set up camps for a temporary main headquarters of operations. Some men were sent to scout out the lush and dense forests ahead of them and to map out the areas. Others were sent on hunting parties and to bring back fresh water, some ordered to chop down and clear sections of these great forests that were rumored to contain evil within them. The rest of the men set about creating the huge camp; laying out and designing where things would go, putting up tents, creating simple barricades and foundations, etc.

Rome walked around as his soldiers were hard at work, providing assistance and guidance when needed. After a couple hours, one Tribune (a Roman military officer) ran up to Rome and reported on their progress, "Romulus! We should be completely done with the camp by sunset!"

Rome put his hands on his hips triumphantly, puffing his chest outwards and raising his head high, "Excellent! Let us mark our claim upon these foreign and savage lands just like we have done with Britannia! This will be just as easy, as I hear that the native barbarians are very passive! We will carve out a province and sap these lands of their resources for the mighty Roman Empire!"

After instructing more officers on their jobs and overseeing the completion of the camp, Rome went to sleep with dreams of conquest in his mind.

 _*Le time skip*_

It had been seven days since their landing on the Askrolitian shores, and messengers were sent back to the empire to report their successful landing and to request supplies for the future conquest of the territory. Rome had been busy in the temporary headquarters ever since and was itching to explore some of the landscapes of his soon-to-be province. The scouts that had returned reported dense and hilly forests with large numbers of ravines, cliffs, valleys, wide rivers, and distant mountains and fjords to the northeast. They also spoke of tribesmen and clans who seemed to be of a similar origin to that of the Celts in Britannia, maybe they were distant relatives. That day, Rome decided to go alone and check out these sights for himself, so he packed provisions for a couple days and set out, putting one of the Legates (a Roman military officer in charge of a legion) in charge.

A few leagues later of hiking in the forest, Rome came upon a wide stream that one of the scouts told him about, he filled his water skin and continued on to the northeast, where the land gradually became more hilly and rough. He followed one the trails that his men had carved out a few days ago and eventually came to a small and short gorge with a cliff side only about three body lengths high on the right. As Rome passed through the bottom of the gorge, he noticed the dense vegetation around him and the tranquil aura it gave off.

 _This would be a nice region to visit every once and awhile, and soon it will be all under my control!_

As he passed further into the gorge, he heard some rustling to his right on top of the short cliff side. It sounded like a rock was being scraped against stone, so he looked up to the source of the commotion, but saw nothing.

 _What in Hercules is that?_

When he had stopped to further examine the sound, he heard a high pitched grunt, preceded by a small boulder tumbling down right towards his face.

"AHHHHH!" The Roman man made out before being smashed in the face with the rock.

After a few moments, Romulus rose up and brushed himself off, noticing that the boulder had cracked in half upon collision with his head.

 _Damn that hurt like Hades._ The Roman thought, rubbing the now bump on his head. He looked to where the rock had fallen from, only to see a dirty blonde child peering down onto him. But as soon as he made eye contact, the head darted back behind the cliff side, and out of his view.

"Hey! Come back here you coward! Do you know who you are dealing with?! Face me!" He yelled angrily.

A few seconds later, the dirty blonde head of a small child reappeared over the cliff and stared down at him.

 _How was a child able to push that boulder?_

"Hey you stupid brat! What was that for?! Do you know who I am?! If I was a mere human, I would have surely died!"

The child stood up and put its hands on its hips. Its wavy hair blowing in the gentle breeze. Rome noticed the child was a boy, and that he had stormy defiant eyes. He was wearing a simple plum coloured tunic, a dark brown cloak, and the strangest thing of all… pants (Romans didn't usually wear pants and thought they were weird). The short boy pointed at Rome accusingly and shouted at him in a strange Celtic accent.

"Of course I know who you are! You are that bully Rome! You conquered my older sister Britannia! But uh… wait… what was I going to say?"

 _Seriously? What a poor excuse of a nation_ Rome thought to himself, but then he thought about it for a second… _Wait, what?!_

"Wait! You said that Britannia is your sister?! She never said that she had a sibling!"

"Oh yeah! I remember!" The boy said cheerfully. "But yes she is! Well, kind of, I only call her that because she was the first nation to find me. I don't know if we are actually related, but we must be because we are very alike one another! But even though you were able to take her over, don't think that you will be able to with me! I will fight you until the end of my days if I have to!"

"So you're telling me that you are the representation of Askroltia?"

"Yes you _dúramán_! Didn't you understand that from what I said!? I represent the various tribes and clans of these lands, and if I'm not mistaken, you are not one of them! So go away!" The boy who was apparently Askroltia shouted. He then picked up a rock and hurled it at Rome. It was a direct hit to his chest.

"GAH!" Romulus screamed in pain, "Would you stop throwing rocks at me!?"

"No! Not until you and your men go away! Now leave my lands and let my people be alone!"

"Never! Mark my words boy, I will conquer you just like your 'sister'! Your resource rich lands will be a part of the glorious Roman Empire!" Romulus proclaimed triumphantly.

Askroltia picked up another rock and tossed it in his hands, "Hah! Uh wait… um… oh yeah! We'll see about that!' He threw the rock and landed a perfect hit on Rome's crotch.

"AHHHHH! MY BALLS!" Rome screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his private areas. "How are you able to throw with such accuracy!?"

Askroltia pulled a short bow from his back and aimed it at the Roman lying on the ground below him. "I have had much practice with the bow and arrow. Now are you going to leave or not!?"

"Alright, alright, I'm going! But I will be back you hear me?!" He called, running out of the gorge.

Askroltia threw one last rock at the fleeing Roman and hit him right in the ass, producing an "AHHHH! My buttox!" from him. Askroltia laughed to himself and turned away, preparing for the worst.

 _*Le time skip*_

Rome entered back into the camp a few hours later, bruised and battered from his encounter with the wild Askroltian boy, and from his flee through the dense woods. He rushed into the main pavilion that acted as their head-of-operations and called together the six legates assigned to each legion. When they had all finally gathered under the tent, Rome turned to the legate who had told him of the peaceful nature of the Askroltii (the largest tribe in Askroltia). "You said that they would be peaceful and carefree! I can now see that that is not the case!"

"W-Well, um, maybe not all the tribes are peaceful, and well, I did hear that while they do not fight much among themselves, t-they are willing to defend each other if the situation occurred." The legate nervously responded, avoiding Romulus' stare. "W-Why? Did something happen?"

He hesitantly retold them of his encounter with the Celtic boy, after which one of the legates laughed. Rome whipped his head around to the man and shouted at him, "You think this is funny!? I will not stand for this humiliation!"

The other legates joined in and laughed at Romulus in a chorus of chuckling, but after a while, Rome slammed his fist down on the table, "ENOUGH! No more talk of how I was soundly embarrassed!" He turned his head to look at each commander, "Now, what are your plans for the conquest of this region?"

The legate by the name of Apius Vertrocris spoke up, "Well Romulus, while you were getting your ass kicked by a little boy with stones, we have been able to find out about the various tribes and clans of Askroltia." Rome gritted his teeth, he always hated Apius, and he had always defied Romulus' authority whenever he had the chance.

"Very well, go on."

"First of all, we all know about the Askroltii, the largest tribe in the region who live farther north, but we have learned of their diplomacy with the other tribes. The Askroltii act as the protector of the other tribes in Askroltia, and thus see themselves as the leader of them. They have most of the clans under their influence and they will be loyal to the Askroltii and help them in any conflict that occurs. However there are a few tribes who resent the Askroltii and would be useful to our cause if we were to ally with them. They include the Killdainii and the Reikitani (who would eventually become the dominant group and found the Kingdom of Reikland later on). There are also the independent tribes to the east and north; they will most likely be uninvolved in any matter that arises."

Romulus was impressed on how much they had learned while he was gone, but he dared not give Apius any sense of satisfaction. "Is that all? I expected more from you."

As he said this, Apius gritted his teeth and glared at Rome. Romulus smiled at this. "Very well, we will make do with this information and send it back to the Emperor. In the meantime, let us send diplomats to appease these tribes who you have said will be beneficial to us. I want to conquer this land as soon as possible."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Apius asked, still irritated, "The tribes of Askroltia are known for their unpredictable use of battle tactics."

Rome smiled again, "By outmaneuvering that stupid brat in every way possible."

Translations:

 _Dúramán_ : Gaelic for 'Idiot'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

-The Invitation-

June 16th, 2015

Canada's P.O.V.

As Canada and his older brother stepped out of their car, they walked up the driveway to the entrance of Reikland's house. Even though he had only been a couple of times, Canada had always liked Reikland's new house. It was warm and welcoming, had a modern and rustic feel to it, and could always make you feel at home. When they reached the door and knocked, Canada let out a soft sigh.

"Little nervous?" America asked, looking back to his brother.

"I guess. I'm just worried for him, losing his memories and all. I don't know what to say to him if he doesn't recognize us."

Alfred grinned and jabbed his thumb towards himself, "Don't worry, Reikland will be fine. Anyways, you can just leave the talking to me alright?"

"Alright." Canada sighed again, he wished that Kumajiro was with him. He needed to hug something right now.

After about two minutes of waiting, no one had answered the door, so America rang the doorbell.

"Do you think they're not home? We have been waiting for a couple minutes now."

"Maybe, but it's only 7:40 in the morning, they might be still asleep, eh?"

After a while, America grew impatient. He pulled out his phone and scanned his contact list. "That's it, I'm calling Prussia. Then we can find out where they are. And if they're asleep, it'll wake them up."

Matthew scanned the area around the rather large house with his eyes until he noticed something on a hill in the distance.

 _It kind of looks like…_

Canada tugged on America's sleeve.

"Damn, she's not picking up. What is it Matthew?" He asked as he turned around to face his brother.

Canada pointed to the thing he saw and Alfred's eyes lit up. "Well I'll be damned."

As they made their way to the object, or objects, they noticed how hot it was, with Canada taking off his sweater. When the two brothers finally reached the top of the hill, they made out the mounds of a certain albino that was asleep, smothering the the Nordic under her. The couple was also accompanied by the large wolf that was Värjö, and Jilbird lay on top of her master's head, all sleeping soundly.

America put his hands on his hips and smiled at the sight. "Well, you would think that after losing his memories, Varyn wouldn't have any strong feelings for her. But here they are, cuddling together like the world is coming to an end."

He then kneeled down next to the two nations and shook them awake.

"Wuh?" Julia mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "What happened?"

"What the…" Varyn murmured, looking up towards the two brothers.

"Looks like you two love birds fell asleep together! Wrapped in each other's arms and snoozed the night away on a grassy hill, oh how romantic!" He mocked.

"Whatever, you ruined our peaceful and awesome slumber." Julia grumbled, getting off of the dirty blonde below her. "Alfred, Matthew, what are you guys doing here?"

Canada spoke up at this, wanting to add to the conversation. "W-We came to check up on Varyn. After hearing what happened, we felt that we should come over and visit."

"You couldn't have called ahead of time?" Prussia asked, a little irritated.

Matthew felt a little guilty, coming unexpected and annoying the albino woman.

"I thought that it would be awesome to surprise you guys!" America butted in.

Reikland got up and stared at the two brothers. "I imagine that I'll be asking this question quite often now, but would you mind reminding me who you are?"

Even though Canada expected it, he was still a little hurt by the Nordic's question. Ever since he could remember, all the nations had mistaken him for his older brother or had forgotten about him entirely, all the nations except Reikland. He had always recognized Canada no matter what, and if he was present, Varyn would never fail to greet him. Matthew didn't know why, maybe it had to do with Reikland colonizing parts of his country, but not having much interaction with America early on, thus making him not being able to confuse the two.

The Prussian decided to introduce them to the Reikish man, "Varyn, these are the nations of America," she said, gesturing to the taller blonde, "And Canada." Then to the slightly shorter man. "Their names are Alfred and Matthew, and They are brothers."

Varyn seemed to be a little confused, "So you mean, we can be related to other countries? Like blood related?"

"Yeah dude, many nations around the world are related, like Julia here and Germany, North and South Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, Spain and Brasi- I mean Portugal." America said this enthusiastically, even though not being the best at geography. (Portugal is female in this fanfiction)

"Interesting…" The Celt said, pondering on this for moment before snapping back into reality. "Oh, and um, nice to meet you guys I guess, even though you already know me." He stuttered, extending his hand to the brothers. They each shook hands with the dirty blonde but it was rather awkward, for they each knew Varyn for so long.

"Anyways, should we head inside? It's kind of hot out here." America asked, sweat forming on his forehead.

"Oh, right. Let's go in." Julia said, leading them to the house.

After about a half an hour of introducing themselves further to Reikland and getting some snacks, the four nations all settled down in the living room to talk more.

"So then both you and Julia both traveled across the sea just to help train me to fight the British! It was hard at first, but you guys really helped me out!" The American exclaimed loudly.

" _Ja_ , I remember, you were like, totally unawesome in your fighting skills until you practically begged us for help!" Prussia laughed.

"I did not beg! America never asked for help from anyone!" Alfred defended, "You guys came over to help me on your own accord, out of the kindness of your tiny hearts! Reikland, you just wanted to see England defeated and weakened, because you hated him. And Prussia…" He paused, "Actually I don't know why you helped."

Julia shrugged, "Meh, it was fun to basically give Arthur the middle finger, and I would have been bored without Varyn anyways. After all, we were married at that point."

Reikland eyes lit up, "What? We were married? Like literally?"

Matthew looked back over to Julia, she seemed hurt that Varyn didn't remember their 72 year marriage. But Julia's face softened and she grinned, lightly punching him on the arm. "Of course you _dummkopf_! Don't you know anything about history? The Kingdoms of Prussia and Reikland were united for most of the 1700's!"

Reikland still looked surprised, and rather confused. "But that means we were married? So any time two countries become one, they get married?"

Canada piped up, "It depends, usually it happens in a union, like Austria and Hungary were married for a time in a personal union and later when they formed their dual monarchy, but when Germany and Austria united in 1939, they did not suddenly become married."

Prussia winced at this, probably not wanting to remember World War Two, so he changed the subject. "But anyways, we didn't just come here to check up on you Varyn, the two of us also wanted to invite you guys to our birthday parties in July. We would normally just call you, but because of the current situation, we thought it best to do it in person."

"Yeah! You guys should seriously come! We'll have a pool, a barbeque, fireworks, tons of food, all the female nations in bikinis…"

Julia glared at the American.

"Uh, sorry, just kidding. But yeah it will be totally awesome!" He shouted.

Reikland thought for a second before addressing the brothers again, "Yeah that sounds like fun we'll definitely go. But I never really thought about it. Do we celebrate our birthdays every year? I feel like that would become boring and kind of tedious after a while. And also, what do we mark as our birthdays? Because some countries went through numerous transformations in history."

"Well," Prussia answered, "it varies between nations, but you and I both recognize the day that our kingdoms were first formed as our birthdays. And also no, we don't generally celebrate our birthdays every year, most of the time every five to ten years,except for this prick." She said, pointing at America.

Alfred raised in hands up in defense. "Hey, I can't help it that my people love to rejoice in their freedom!"

Canada rolled his eyes, "Yeah, 'freedom'."

America turned on his brother, his glasses almost falling off. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Matthew smiled, "Well let's see. No free healthcare, no marriage equality..." (At the time)

"Hey I can't directly control that and yo-"

"No kinder eggs!"

America paused for a second before coming up with a comeback.

"Well you gave us Justin Bieber!"

Canada's mouth gaped open, how dare he!

"Why you!"

"Whoa!" Prussia yelled, trying to stop the two brothers from fighting, "Hold on now guys, no need to get violent."

The brothers started arguing and shouting at each other regardless, ignoring the two other nations. When, abruptly, they all stopped shouting and looked towards the nearest wall expecting a certain Italian to burst through. (Thumbs up if you get this reference)

Reikland stared at the other three nations in mass confusion. "Uh guys? Is there something I'm missing here?"

Canada, America, and Prussia all frowned in their failed attempt to summon the Italian. "Uh, nothing Varyn." Muttered the American.

 _*Le time skip*_

An hour later, after talking together and discussing the plans for the birthday parties a little more, Reikland and America went into the kitchen to whip up some food for everyone, leaving Canada alone with the albino ex-nation. It was a little awkward at first, but after some small talk, Julia's face grew concerned.

"Hey Matthew, can I talk to you about something serious?"

Canada was interested in what she had to say. "Of course, what is it?"

Prussia looked back at the kitchen where Reikland and America were cooking and talking to each other. She then proceeded to get up, grab his wrist, and drag him away to the front door. She led him outside and the two sat down on the patio.

Canada was thoroughly confused, "Julia, what is it, why do we have to be outside?"

She avoided his gaze for a moment before facing him, her face worried. She then sighed and began to speak. "It's about Varyn. I am worried about how slowly his memories are returning. I mean I understand what happened to him, hell, I was the one who caused it. But we are nations! Our bodies heal so much faster than regular humans! I mean, he didn't even know about our marriage!" Prussia hung her head in between her knees. "I just feel like it will take years for him to remember everything about his life… everything about us…"

Canada was excited that the Julia had confided in him with this, but he was also surprised, he never really got to see the more emotional side of Prussia, the side that was hidden under her huge ego and high confidence. And to be honest, he didn't want to see it, for he had always had a minor crush on her, and it was hurting him to see her this way.

 _I must comfort her in some way!_ He thought.

Canada scooted closer to the depressed albino and patted her on the shoulder. "Julia, it's alright. There no need to feel ashamed that you are worried for your loved one. I'm sure that Reikland will get better after a while, but you need to give him time. After all, it has only been about two weeks since the incident, so I'm sure he will gather many more memories over the next few months, especially ones about the two of you. In the meantime, try to help him recover, stuff that might connect certain things together in his mind. But you also should watch him, because I can't imagine it being healthy to have more than two thousand years of painful memories and losing loved ones, all rushing back to you in a short span of time." Canada paused for a second, thinking about what he just said. "Actually… that might not have been the best thing to say right now, eh?"

Prussia lifted her head and smiled at the Canadian. "No, it's alright… that actually made me feel better." She then shocked Canada by leaning close and gently kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you Matthew."

 _Her lips are so soft! Damn, Reikland is so lucky to have her!_

He was blushing profusely, and tried to hide it, but the red eyed nation noticed and giggled. She got up and offered him her hand.

"Want to go back inside? I'm sure that they have made a great dish!"

He accepted her hand and the two went back inside the house to enjoy the rest of the day together with the other nations.

P.S.

If you don't get the reference; look up "don't get upsetti, have some spaghetti"


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: Varyn at this point has grown to be a young teenager, because of some of his tribes uniting to fend off the Romans. (The nations grow physically with heightened power) So by now, he is not a child.

Chapter 11

-The Ambush-

February, 71 A.D.

Southern Askroltia

Rome P.O.V.

Romulus sat on his cot, his head in his hands, contemplating his current situation. It had been almost four years since they had first landed in these godforsaken lands. The legions had had a few minor skirmishes with the native clans, but nothing on a large scale. This had worried Rome to no end, for he believed that Askroltia was planning something large. In the couple minor battles that they fought, the native Celts had proved to be fearsome warriors, much more so than the ones in Britannia, and they had left their forces with many casualties in a rather short amount of time. There was also the fact that two of the previous six legions had been recalled back to the mainland, as the throne had gone through five emperors in the last three years, and Vespasian, the current ruler, needed all the forces he could muster to defend his newly acquired authority. This had left Romulus with less than 20,000 men to defend his occupied territory until reinforcements arrived to aid in the capture of this region. However these men that still remained were low in morale, as the winters were harsh in these lands, and the loss of many of their friends in battle, from sickness, or departure had left them demoralized and unenthusiastic. Rome's goal was to seize the extremely fertile lands farther up north where the Askroltii lived, but this task proved difficult, with the Roman forces receiving fierce opposition from the tribes. And so, the men were forced to live off of the rocky soil that resided in the south where agriculture was hardly possible.

Rome sighed,

 _So much for my glorious conquest._

He prepared for today's march, as many of their forces stationed at the original camp that was _supposed_ to be temporary, were to travel north to another outpost that sent word of a possible attack. So in all, 5,000 men were going to Camp Argentum to back up the original soldiers today.

 _*Le time skip*_

All Romulus could hear was the sound of five thousand soldiers' feet crunching the snow as they marched. The entire legion of Apius Vertrocris was chosen to reinforce the men at Camp Argentum, and Rome was forced to travel with his most hated legate. It had been three days since they departed the main camp, and the man had annoyed Romulus to no end.

"So, Romi, how do you feel about the miserable progression of this invasion?"

Rome gritted his teeth, it infuriated him when he used that stupid nickname. He simply ignored the man and pushed his way forward to the front of the group.

A few hours later, the legion entered into a shallow ravine as the sun began to settle in the sky. Rome shivered at the cold air that he would never get used to.

 _We can't march on like this, we need to stop_

He ordered the legion to halt, and to set up for the night. However, Apius rushed over to him when he heard the command. The man appeared angry but Romulus just rolled his eyes, not caring for what he had to say.

"What are you doing? We can't stop now! We need to reach Camp Argentum as fast as possible! That letter we received for help was from three days ago, they could be under attack right now!" The man shouted, annoying Rome with his opposition.

Rome, tried of Apius' constant complaining, grabbed the man by the throat and turned his face towards the vast crowd of men. "You don't get it do you? Attrition is the greatest threat in war. We are in the dead of winter in lands that are much colder than what we used to! Look! Look at these men! They are freezing, they are exhausted, and they need rest!" He then pushed the legate to the ground, "Now be gone, I will not stand to hear your whining any longer!" The man scurried off in fear until he left Romulus' sight.

Rome sighed, his worst fear was not the freezing air, but being surprised in the night with an attack. Ever since his first encounter with the brat that was Askroltia, he had known not to fall into any of his traps, and this ravine seemed like a good place for one. But what could he do? The men all needed rest.

Pushing his worries to the back of his mind, Romulus settled down to sleep in the frigid nighttime air.

Then he awoke to the screams of men.

Askroltia P.O.V.

The night was cold. Very cold.

Askroltia crept up behind one of the Roman guards that were sent to watch over the rest of the legion, as he got close enough, he slit the man's throat silently. He hoped that his clansmen had as much success taking out the other guards.

As his men gathered in the dense brushes on the tops of the ravine, and encircled the sleeping Romans, Askroltia motioned to for them to begin the preparations. Huge logs were balanced on the edges of the slope that led down to the bottom where the entire legion was. His archers all knocked their bows with oil soaked cloths, ready to be ignited. Torches were passed among the men and they edged closer to the sleeping soldiers below in silence. When they were ready to start, he gestured for the ambush to commence.

The great logs were set on fire, and men pushed them down into the ravine below. As they rolled down the slopes, they gave light to the nighttime darkness and eventually crashed into the tents of the asleep men and began to set fire to the makeshift camp. Screams began to sound in the night as soldiers awoke. Mass confusion spread throughout their forces.

Varyn drew his sword and thrusted it into the air, ordering the archers to fire. He heard the numerous 'thocking' of bow strings as they releasing the flaming arrows onto the unaware invaders. Many of the arrows were extinguished before landing, but some made it to the ground still alight and spread the flames to the other parts of the encampment. Others sunk into the chests of legionaries, sending them crashing to the ground and into the afterlife. The rest of Askroltia's men threw their torches onto the enemies, but by then, the Romans knew they were under attack and prepared themselves for battle, with one man shouting "FORM SHIELD WALL!" to his comrades.

Askroltia ordered two more volleys of arrows to be released, trying to kill as many of these invaders as possible, before he led his forces charging down the hill to meet his foes.

As he rushed down, making a blood curdling yell, axe and shield in hand, he noticed the armour of the Roman legionaries glittering in the light of the roaring inferno that surrounded them, making them appear intimidating, but he knew that they would be burning up inside the hot metal.

He targeted one section of their forces, and right before his men were going to crash into their shield wall, screaming their heads off, Askroltia halted them. Silence fell around their area of the makeshift camp as his forces stopped, and they stood still in front of the unprepared Romans, not moving an inch. Knowing that this sudden halt in their attack would both confuse and frighten them, Varyn ordered for his men to slowly step forward. He then heard one of the Romans give a command. " _PILA IACITE!_ "

He grinned, for he understood some Latin.

 _Do they think that will work?_

"SHIELDS UP!" he commanded.

Most of his men followed his order and raised their shields in defense, right before the Romans threw their javelins towards them. Most of the javelins missed or struck their shields, and only a few of Varyn's men were killed in the volley. So they resumed their slow advance on the shield wall.

The Romans, terrified, backed up until their backs were against the opposite side of the ravine, blocking off any escape. Varyn looked up above the Romans to where they kept one log positioned above them. He signaled to the two men there to release it and they obeyed. As the log came hurling down the steep slope, some of the Romans looked up and tried to run away, but it was too late. The huge log smashed itself into the back of the shield wall, crushing countless men and causing them to break their formation. Seizing the opportunity, Askroltia charged his men, screaming their war cry, into the fray of the dazed Romans.

Varyn slit the throat of the closest enemy that laid on the ground, defenseless. He continued on and set his eyes on another man, who was about to stab one of his men. He rushed over and slammed his axe into the Roman's back, instantly killing him. Another man rushed towards Varyn, his shield discarded, leaving him vulnerable. He hurled his axe into the man's chest and sent him crashing into the ground. He looked around as his forces slaughtered the remains of the legion, blood painting the snow everywhere. He pulled his axe that was embedded in the man's chest out and searched for any others. Another soldier rushed towards Varyn with his sword and shield, ready to kill the nation.

 _As if he could._ Varyn thought.

The soldier slammed into Askroltia at full speed. Or at least tried to. The nimble dirty blonde jumped out of his way, quickly turned around, and planted his axe into the man's neck.

Varyn then saw one man who appeared to be of higher rank than his comrades trying to escape out of the ravine.

 _The coward_

He took a bow from one of his men and easily loosened an arrow into the officer's back. He face first into the snow, dead.

The rest of the battle, or he should say massacre, was rather short, with his men searching the charred battlefield, killing off those left alive. Varyn then saw a familiar face among the men that they bound up to take as prisoner. It was the Roman Empire himself, Romulus.

Rome P.O.V.

Romulus' head was killing him. He had been bashed in the back of the head with some blunt object early on in the battle and fell unconscious. When he awoke, he was tied up, and discovered that almost the entire legion had been killed, slaughtered by the Askroltian clansmen. He then saw the now older Varyn approach him.

Rome grinned and called out sarcastically, "Damn you've grown! You look like you could almost be thirteen now!"

The grey eyed teen, not amused, punched Romulus in the face and pushed him onto the ground. He put face right in front of the taller nation and spoke to him. "This is no laughing matter Romulus, I just killed an entire legion of yours. Will you now leave me alone?"

As Romulus lay pinned under the dirty blonde, he laughed. "I thought Askroltia was a land where anyone was allowed entry."

Varyn's face hardened. "My lands are open to all. Except those who wish to conquer it."

Then one man came up to the two with the head of Apius Vertrocris on a spear. Askroltia laughed and took the head from the man and showed it to Rome. "This is one of your officers, correct? Look at his horrified expression right before his head was separated from his body." The teen looked at Rome, expecting an answer. To be honest, Romulus didn't care about the loss of the irritating legate, and said nothing.

When he realized that he would not get a response, Varyn smiled and looked back at the head. "I think I will keep it. As a trophy of my victory."

As the cries of men died down, and the night grew ever more in silence, Rome had a thought form in his mind. "You planned all of this didn't you? The fake incoming attack of Camp Argentum. You knew that we would come to support them didn't you?"

Askroltia's face wrinkled in confusion. "You think that your 'Camp Argentum' still stands?"

Rome grew worried. "Didn't you make a false plan of an assault of the camp, to make us come to reinforce it?"

The Celtic nation laughed loudly, lifting his head to the night sky. "No, we burned it and all of its inhabitants to the ground three days ago after hearing that they had sent a messenger to you. I'm quite glad to say that all your men stationed there are dead."

Rome was silent for a while before he finally spoke up. "An ambush at night upon unprepared men. Do you have any shred of honour in your blood?" He asked.

Askroltia let go of the bloody Roman on the ground and gazed upon the battlefield. "Look upon your scores of dead men and ask them if honour matters." He then turned his stormy eyes that shone in the moonlight on Romulus, "Their silence is your answer."

Varyn waited a moment before asking Rome the same question as before. "You now have very little troops left with you Romulus, I know that. This winter has been hard on you and you cannot survive another. So I ask you again, will you leave my lands? I do not enjoy killing your people." He paused and put a finger to his chin, "Well actually I do, but I only do it because I am forced to. So will you leave?"

Rome gritted his teeth, angry at being so foolish as to have left his men vulnerable. "I will, for now. But believe me that I will be back, and next time with ten times as men. You will share the same fate as your 'sister' Britannia."

Varyn smiled. "Wrong answer." He then headbutted Romulus, and all he saw after that was black.

Translations:

 _pila iacite_ : Latin for 'throw spears'


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

-An Awkward Explanation-

October, 1280

Königsberg

The young man planted his foot onto the dock and stepped off of the ship that had brought him to the small fortress town of Königsberg. He placed his hands on his hips and inhaled deeply the crisp autumn air that was mixed with the salty smell of the sea. He turned around back to the many ships he had sailed with and called out to the men aboard. "Alright lads! Let's get these supplies off the ships and onto the docks ASAP!"

Men ran around everywhere, carrying crates, pulling ropes, and bringing bags onto the docks, while the young man was talking to one of the captains about their arrival and the future trip back to their homeland. Suddenly though, a rush of footsteps were heard behind the two and a feminine voice called out.

"VARYN!"

The grey eyed man turned around to see a certain grinning albino girl running towards him accompanied by five guards behind her. She slammed into the Celto-Nordic nation and gave him a bear hug, which was rather awkward as she was about eye level with his mid torso. Reikland smiled and patted the girl on the head.

"Hey there kiddo! Long time no see!" He gently escaped from her embrace, bent down, and put his hands on her shoulders. "My god! Look how big you've grown! I guess you're not a little kid anymore are you?"

The girl punched his arm and pouted, her adorable red eyes fixed on the taller nation. "Reikland you jerk! You haven't visited me in over what? Fifteen years now?"

The Celt grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know, I know, sorry Julchen but I've been kind of busy back home. But I'm here now right?" He ruffled the girl's short silver hair. "I see you still have your hair trimmed." he remarked.

The albino fixed her hair and grinned. "Of course! Long hair is stupid! I need my hair short if I want to fight awesomely! Otherwise it would get in the way!"

Reikland smiled at her tom boyishness and started to walk with her away from the docks. "Anyways, how have you been? Like you said it's been awhile now, so what's been going on?" He inquired.

"Well, I've had to deal with quite a few uprisings recently from those stupid pagans, but I dealt with them awesomely!"

Varyn was happy that the girl had gained much confidence over the years, but was a little puzzled by what she meant by what she just said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The girl looked up at the taller nation and grinned. "I slaughtered them!"

The dirty blonde's face faltered a bit. "Oh my." he muttered. He tried to lighten the subject and asked about something else. "So have you been treated well? I mean, you seem happier, but are you still harassed about your appearance?"

Julchen continued to grin as they walked closer towards the fortress. "No, it's been a lot better. I guess people have gotten used to me now."

Reikland chuckled a little to himself. "Not getting burned at the stake anymore now are we?"

Varyn then immediately regretted what he had just said, for the albino girl's smile faded, and her face turned gloomy. A solemn "No." was all she said.

 _Crap why did I ask say that? Now I've just brought up painful memories for her_

"S-Sorry Julchen, I shouldn't had said that so light heartedly."

Julchen however brightened up. "It's okay Varyn. And besides, you were the one that made it stop." She said, hugging his arm. " _Danke_."

The Nordic was surprised at the albino's change in emotion, and he blushed slightly at her affection, but the two continued in silence towards the fortress of Königsberg.

 _*Le time skip to next day*_

The grey eyed nation awoke that morning to the screams of the albino girl.

"VARYN!"

Reikland groaned at the rude awakening to his peaceful slumber.

 _Can't I get a little bit of rest?_

"What is it Julchen?" He called through the door of his temporary chambers.

"Let me in! It's urgent! I need to talk to you!" She yelled, pounding on the door.

Varyn, worried, opened the door immediately and ushered her in. "What is it?"

She looked scared, she was breathing heavily, her hair was ruffled and unkempt, she was only wearing simple nighttime garments, and her ordinary happy expression was masked with fear. "You need to protect me! I'm in danger!"

The dirty blonde was now concerned and confused. Were they under attack? "Wait Julchen slow down. Sit on my bed, you need to catch your breath."

" _Ja_ , you're right." She accepted his hand and he led the albino to the bed to lay down. Her face grimaced and she clutched the area below her stomach.

Reikland was worried for the German girl and waited for to feel at ease. When she had finally calmed down he turned back to her and began questioning. "Now, Julchen, tell me what happened."

She turned her red eyes to the Nordic nation and started to speak. "I was attacked last night! I think someone is trying to kill me!"

He was shocked to hear the words coming from her mouth. "What? Why would anyone want to do that? And besides, we nations are immortal, we can't be killed."

" _Ja_ , I know. But maybe they don't know that."

Reikland looked the girl over, seeing if she was hurt, he was deeply worried for her sake. "Well what happened? Could you tell who it was? Are you injured? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Where did they run off to? How did you defend yourself?"

Julchen was silent for a second and embarrassingly looked away from the taller nation. "W-Well, the thing is, I don't know. I-I was asleep the whole night." she stammered.

The Nordic was now even more confused. "Wait what? Then how do you know that you were attacked?"

Again the albino girl glanced away from Varyn. "Well, I only noticed when I woke up just a bit ago, but when I looked down, my entire lower sheets were bloodstained! So I can only assume that someone tried to kill me in the night!"

Varyn was scared to think were this was going. "Julchen?" He nervously asked, "Where were you hurt?"

She for the third time looked away and hesitantly pointed to her private areas. "It has been hurting me ever since, like a bad cramp. What kind of pervert would injure a young and awesome girl like me down there?"

Varyn face palmed. After a few moments he slowly glanced up and addressed the albino. "Julchen, did you never get the talk?" He asked.

The silver haired girl looked at him in confusion. "What? What is that?"

"Oh my god." The dirty blonde muttered.

 _Am I really the one who has to explain it to her?_

"What? What is it?!" Julchen begged.

Varyn prepared himself mentally for what he had to do. He took a deep breath in and sighed. "Julchen, today you have become a woman. And now I am going to teach you why."

The albino's red eyes lit up. "Really? I am a woman now? That's awesome!"

Reikland laughed to himself. "You won't be saying that for too long." And thus, he began a very awkward explanation.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

-The Party-

July 4th

Virginia, U.S.

Reikland's P.O.V.

Reikland and Prussia stepped out of the car and onto the pavement of America's driveway. The Prussian looked towards him with a worried expression. "You ready to see everyone?"

Varyn sighed. "I guess, I mean it's been a month now since the incident, it's time that I met everyone again. Is there going to be a lot of people here?" The dirty blonde asked.

Julia put her hands on her hips and thought for a second. " _Ja_ , usually Alfred invites a lot of the nations to his parties, so you will see many new people."

Varyn tried to lift his spirits. "Well I can only hope it won't be too hectic." He then stared down to the albino. "Please don't drink too much. I'll need a familiar face to rely on."

Prussia scoffed and put a hand to her chest. "What?! The awesome me?! Getting drunk?! It's going to take a bit more than a few American beers to get this awesome gal wasted! Now let's go inside!" She shouted, grabbing the dirty blonde's hand.

(She got drunk)

(Like totally hammered)

(But before we get to that part let's backtrack a little)

As they knocked on the door, they were greeted by a familiar Canadian who ushered them into America's rather large house. Matthew decided to not have his own party this year as he wasn't that excited about it and he also didn't want to put the other nations through too much trouble by having them stay in North America for nearly a week by also going to America's party a few days later. So the brothers chose to celebrate both of their birthdays on the 4th this year.

Matthew greeted them as they entered and Reikland was hit by a wave of food smells. He looked around the house at the many nations inside and got butterflies in his stomach. Thankfully he recognized a few from his visions so far, but only a couple.

Prussia and Reikland made their way through the house and reached the main host, Alfred. When the blonde with glasses saw them he perked up and grabbed Reikland by the shoulder, nearly dropping the drink in his hand. "Hey dudes, glad you could make it! We are going to have an awesome night tonight! That is, if Hong Kong doesn't blow up my house with the fireworks."

"Eh?" Reikland asked.

Prussia chuckled at his confusion. "Hong Kong is like, a total pyro."

"Ah. Got it." The grey eyed nation nodded.

America looked like he was thinking about something for a second before he turned back towards the two. "Oh yeah! I got to announce to everyone that you're here!"

The American then put his hands to his mouth and shouted; "HEY GUYS! VARYN'S HERE!"

The shout from Alfred startled Jilbird, who was laying on Prussia's head, and the little bird flew away. "Wait! Jilbird! Come back!" Julia screamed, chasing the yellow pet.

Countless heads all turned to where Reikland was standing and a sudden silence filled the house. But almost immediately a flurry of things were heard from all directions.

"Is he okay?"

"I didn't think that he was going to be here."

"Are his memories back?"

"That's great!"

"Do you think he remembers us?"

Reikland tried to keep up with all the things being said about him but he couldn't concentrate. He shook his head slightly only to see a crowd of people rushing towards him, all greeting him and asking if he recognized them. Varyn was very flustered and felt overwhelmed with all the attention when suddenly a hand pulled him away from everyone. "MAKE WAY YOU BLOODY BASTARDS!" A voice said in an English accent. "You are suffocating him!"

The hand led him outside of the crowd and towards the kitchen. When Reikland looked he saw a man who was a bit shorter than him, with shaggy blonde hair, green eyes, and thick eyebrows. The man smiled at him and slapped him on the back. "Hey you stupid git! Feeling better? Say, did you get that carepackage the boys and I sent you a few weeks back?"

Reikland could only imagine that this man was England and tried to point out that he didn't know him.

"You're England? Ah, yes, I recognize the eyebrows. I'm sorry to say this but I barely know anything about our relationship, but I hope I remember it soon. Also, your cooking sucks."

England laughed. "Yeah that's what everyone says, but at least you tried it! Anyways it's alright that you don't remember everything, I mean, Prussia did chuck you off a bridge, I was there to see it. But the name's Arthur Kirkland."

Varyn didn't know why, but something about the Englishman immediately irritated him. But he smiled anyways at the British nation. "So do you usually come to America's parties? I mean, it is when he declared independence from you." The Celtic asked.

England's face grew pale. "Well in the past I didn't, I was always in a bad mood when his birthday came around. But recently I decided to suck it up and come over, which really made America happy so I kept coming. So here I am now."

Arthur however suddenly grimaced and grabbed his stomach. "Damn, I always get bloody sick around this time of year though. Annoying as hell."

 _He gets sick on America's birthday? Well I guess that makes somewhat sense._

"Ah there you are!" A voice said.

The two men turned to see Prussia striding towards them, Jilbird once again crowned upon her silver hair. "I was looking for you." She grabbed Reikland's arm and started to drag him away. "Sorry Artie, but I'm stealing Var from you. I want to show him around."

England waved the two off. "No, no, it's alright. I think I'm just going to sit down…" he said, stumbling towards a couch.

"You alright?" Reikland asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just hope that bloody frog doesn't come by."

"Okay then." He then turned to Julia. "Frog?"

She smiled. "That's his nickname for France."

"Why?"

"Because he is kind of a pervert." Prussia responded. The albino then grinned. "Just like me." She said this while grabbing Varyn's crotch and giving a slight squeeze.

Reikland jumped a little at the touch and glared at the Prussian, who simply laughed. "Kesesese~ don't look so mad Var, we have done much naughtier things than that." And so, she dragged him away from the kitchen.

 _*Le time skip*_

About an hour later, Reikland was introduced to a number of nations by Prussia including France, Germany, the Italy's (Reikland was a little confused as to why there were two), Scotland (who roughly hit Varyn on the back to greet him), and Japan. There were other nations to meet but at that point, but Julia was getting bored and led Varyn outside to America's huge backyard.

When they got out into the blisteringly hot outdoors, Reikland noticed a huge pool with a couple people swimming. "Ah dammit! I forgot he had pool! I would have brought a swimsuit!"

"Eh, sorry Var, I forgot to remind you." The Prussian shrugged.

Varyn, not contented, looked around to see if there was any other things to do outside when he spotted a ping pong table by the far side of the porch. Two East Asian men were playing quite competitively with the one with longer hair winning.

"Hah! That makes it twenty-one to four, aru!"

"No fair Yao! Nobody can beat you at table tennis!"

"Well when you're as old as I am, you can master many things!" The man called Yao was about to serve once again when he spotted the Nordic nation. "Oh hey! It's Reikland! How are you?!" The man asked, waving him over.

"Hey Julia! Come here! I need to ask you something!" Germany called from inside the house.

Prussia kissed Reikland on the cheek and left him to go back inside. "Sorry _liebe_ , I'll be back in a bit."

Reikland, now alone, decided to go meet the two men playing ping pong. When he reached the table he noticed that both looked rather young and had long hair for being male. "Hey, uh you guys probably heard what happened, so you'll know that I don't recognize you two, right?"

The one with shorter hair waved him off lightly. "Ah don't worry about it Varyn, we know what happened. But I'm Hong Kong and this old man over here is China." He said with a slight British accent.

China extended his hand out to Reikland. "Yao Wang at your service, aru!"

The dirty blonde shook his hand politely. "And what is your name?" He asked Hong Kong.

"Oh sorry, I'm Wang Jia Long, but most westerners just call me Leon. Anyways I'm done getting my ass kicked by China so you can play him. I'll be out getting the fireworks ready." And thus Leon put the paddle into Varyn's hand and walked away.

"Alright." The Nordic said, turning to China. "Better go easy on me, I doubt I'm any good!"

Yao smiled. "Don't worry. It'll be just a fun match between us two old geezers!" and he began to serve.

Reikland didn't score a single point against the much more experienced man, and after being thirteen points behind, he decided to stop the massacre. "I… I think I'll stop here. Maybe ping pong isn't my thing." The taller nation said, putting the paddle down.

China must have felt bad and smiled nervously. "Ah, don't feel bad, aru! I am the best table tennis player in the world after all! Feel free to play with me anytime!"

Reikland nodded at the elder nation and walked down towards the pool. A couple of nations were throwing around a beach ball, including Belgium and a tan dark haired man with green eyes, while a brunette woman and a dark haired man with a bandage on his nose seemed to be racing each other. When Reikland got to pool deck, he really regretted not bring a swimsuit, as he had a feeling that he loved to swim in his past. As he walked around the brunette woman finished into the wall just before the man did, and when they got up for air, the man seemed annoyed.

"Fuckin 'ell Elizaveta! How are you faster than me?!" He said in a thick Australian accent.

"I don't know, you would think that with these things on my chest I would be slower! Just guess that makes you suck even more!" The woman taunted.

"Oi, whatever." The man, who Reikland guessed was Australia, said as he got out the pool.

The brunette did the same and Varyn got a good look at her and noticed her emerald green eyes. The woman called out to a dark brown haired man with a mole who was sitting on a lawn chair reading a book. "Hey Roderich! Could you toss me a towel?" The man threw one to her and the woman started to dry herself off. Only then did she notice the dirty blonde looking at her.

He suddenly felt embarrassed for staring at her, especially while she was so… exposed, and he started to turn away until he heard a voice behind him. "Hey Varyn, wait! Come over here!"

The Celtic nation swung around once more to the brunette who was now smiling at him and wringing her long hair out. "How are you? Doing better I hope. I was right next to you when you fell. Quite a drop if I must say."

Reikland nervously rubbed the back of his neck and smiled.

 _Wait a minute! Is this a habit that I always do when I'm nervous? That's so stupid!_

"Um, yeah I've been doing alright…"

The woman looked sad when he said this, her green eyes losing their flair. "You don't remember who I am, do you?"

Varyn slumped his shoulders. "No, I'm sorry. But!" He exclaimed, "if I had to make a guess, with your accent and one of my memories so far; I would say that you are… Hungary!"

The dirty blonde must have been right because the woman named Elizaveta smiled. "Yes! You are correct! But even though you lost all your memories of us together… that might be a good thing…" the Hungarian trailed off.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hungary looked startled for a second and blushed slightly. "Nothing! Nothing important! Anyways, it's great to see you okay." As she said this, she hugged the Reikish man. "I'm glad you are doing better Varyn." The grey eyed man blushed hard from Elizaveta's embrace, mainly due to her being mostly unclothed.

"Aye _frau_! Not trying to steal my man now are you?"

Hungary quickly let go of Reikland and they both turned to face the albino woman coming towards them. "Oh course not you dickwad!" The brunette shouted, putting her hands on her hips. "Why would I?"

Varyn made a fake expression of hurt towards the Hungarian. "What? Am I really that unappealing?" he said sarcastically.

"Yeah! Trying to diss Var here?" Prussia complained, wrapping her arm around the dirty blonde's waist protectively.

Elizaveta just laughed and waved the couple off. "You guys are ridiculous." she said, walking over to the man she had called Roderich.

"Hey Julia." Reikland said, nudging the silver haired nation. "Who's that guy over there?" he asked, gesturing to Roderich.

The albino snorted. "Oh that prissy and unawesome aristocrat? That would be Austria. He's okay I guess, I mean with how long he and I have known each other, I am fond of him. But he's a little stuck up, so I love to mess with him."

As the Prussian finished explaining Austria, a group of nations came out of the house including America, who made his way over to the cooler on the porch and cracked it open. Reaching inside, the dirty blonde pulled out a few beer cans, and then shouted to everyone at the party. "So, who wants some beer?!"

"Ah hell yeah! Beer!" A voice shouted. Prussia came out of nowhere from behind America and snatched a can out of America's hand and opened it in a second. She then took a large gulp, but then immediately spit some of it out.

"Gah! It's American pisswater!" She shouted in disgust. She then glared at Alfred. "Why couldn't jou get some of your craft beers? They are actually good compared to this crap!"

America did his best to defend himself. "Oh come on Julia, don't over exaggerate! It's not that bad! And besides, craft beer is expensive, I'm not going to shell out thousands of dollars just for beer for a huge party!"

Prussia rolled her eyes and tried to down the can. "I would've" she mumbled.

America turned to Varyn and ignored the albino. "Hey, Reikland, bro! You like my beer right? I mean yours is pretty crappy too!"

Varyn frowned sheepishly. "Wow, thanks."

The blonde with glasses laughed. "Oh, my bad! Sorry dude I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah whatever." The dirty blonde mumbled.

 _*Le time skip*_

"Varyn! Why are your eyelashes so long?! Why can't mine be naturally as luscious and awesome as yours?!" The albino whined, poking Varyn's face.

Reikland groaned. The Prussian challenged anyone who wanted to a drinking contest, and Czechia happily obliged. Thus, the two slightly alcoholic girls did battle, with a plethora of beer cans being thrown across the yard and dozens of nations cheering them on. In the end, Czechia won, but only by a little. The two were both utterly wasted, and Reikland soon discovered that it was a bad idea to get Julia drunk.

It was dark by now, and Julia and Varyn were currently laying down on a blanket in America's backyard with Holland, Belgium, the man who Reikland discovered was Spain, and South Italy (or Romano). They were all awaiting Hong Kong's firework show that was going to wrap up Alfred and Matthew's party, but Prussia seemed to be not handling herself well.

"Hey Var, why don't we have some fun upstairs? It's been way toooooo long since we did it." She said drunkenly, her head buried in his chest.

"Eh? But we are outside." The dirty blonde replied.

The albino lifted her head and looked around. "Oh yeah, so we are." She then smirked madly. "That would only make it more exciting." And then she proceeded to unbuckle Varyn's belt.

The Nordic man quickly halted the silver haired woman's advance towards his nether regions. "Julia! No! We are not doing this right now!"

"Ugh! Var, you're no fun!"

"Hey! Would you bastards stop making love over there! The show's about to start!" The angry Italian man shouted.

As if on cue, the first firework rocketed into the air and burst into a fiery display of patriotic red, white, and blue, the bang resounding in the air. Another flew up and made a giant red maple leaf in this sky.

"Owwwww! My head!" The albino whimpered. "Why did I drink so much? This is so unawesome."

"Do you want to go inside? We don't have to be out here." Varyn said worriedly. But as he glanced down, the red eyed nation was already asleep on his chest, drooling slightly.

"How lady like." He chuckled, rubbing her head.

In the end, he had to carry Prussia inside and he settled her gently on a couch. Alfred decided to let anyone who wanted to stay the night at his place, and Reikland happily took his offer. He was too exhausted to drive and Julia didn't look like she would wake up for another couple hours. But the albino surprised him by mumbling when he put her down. He couldn't make out what she said so he bent down to get closer. "What was that Julia?" He asked.

With her eyes still closed, she repeated herself. " _Ich liebe dich Varyn_."

Reikland blushed and pulled a blanket over her and kissed her forehead. " _Ich liebe dich auch, Julia_."

Julia smiled and fell back asleep for the night.

Translations:

 _Ich liebe dich auch_ : German for 'I love you too'


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

-I can't do it-

July 26, 1914

Ghent, Belgium

Belgium's P.O.V.

The two Low Countries sat next to a small and quiet coffee shop outside and waited for the man they were planning to talk with. It was almost night time, and the tall spiky haired nation sipped his coffee and waited patiently while reading a newspaper, not talking to his younger sister. The latter sat with her hands in her lap and nervously biting a biscuit on her plate. After a few moments, the woman finally spoke up to her brother, dreading the extreme silence.

"Tim, he is coming, right?" She asked.

The Netherlands set his coffee and newspaper down and glanced at his sister. "Yeah. He should be here."

Belgium fixed her auburn-blonde hair and stood up. "But we have been here for over an hour! I don't want to sit here waiting until midnight! Why don't we get going?"

The Netherlands looked up at his sister and then glanced behind her. He gestured slightly and muttered; "You might want to turn around."

Belgium looked behind her to see a certain dirty blonde running towards them. She sighed and smiled. "Always late aren't you Reikland?" She then put her hands on her hips. "You have kept us waiting for over an hour!"

When Reikland finally reached them, he was breathing heavily from his long sprint to the two other nations. "S-Sorry I kept you guys so long. I-I was at another meeting today that was running late."

Belgium smiled at the man who had raised her and her brother, and together they sat down. The sun had finally set and the store owner asked how long they were going to stay, but Emma persuaded him to let them stay until they were finished, so he left them to talk. After finishing his coffee, The Netherlands set down his cup and folded his arms. "So what did you want to talk to us about Varyn? Tensions are very high right now, we could be using this time more valuably. Time is money they say."

Reikland sighed and looked to the two Low Countries. "Well, that's what I'm here to tell you guys, about the high tensions, I mean." He took a deep breath and continued. "I'm sure that you have guessed this already, but Austria and Hungary are planning to declare war on Serbia any day now, and it's only a matter of time before the alliances we have set up put us against each other." He paused for a second before continuing. "War is inevitable at this point, and I want to protect you two from it as much as I can okay?"

Belgium was getting nervous. "What are you saying Varyn? We have both declared neutrality in any conflict that arises, no one will invade us."

Reikland hesitatingly stared back at the two before speaking again. "That's where you are wrong Emma. I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but when war breaks out, Germany wants to try and make France surrender as soon as possible, and the shortest way from Western Germany to Paris is, as you know, through your lands."

Belgium knew what he saying, but she didn't want to believe it. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Varyn put his hands on the table and turned to her. "Emma, Germany is going to invade you if you do not give him military access through your lands."

The Netherlands jumped up at this. "What?! He can't do that! I won't allow it! He can't just invade a neutral country if they do not comply with his demands!" He turned his head to Reikland with an angered face. "Varyn, how can you allow this?!"

Reikland again sighed. "I don't like it any more than you do Tim." He then took Belgium's hands into his and stared into her green eyes with compassion on his face. "And that is why, Emma, I am begging you. Please comply with Ludwig's future demands. Please, I don't want you to get hurt."

Belgium was flustered.

 _What am I supposed to do?_

The Netherlands however wouldn't let it go. "No! Emma, don't do this! You can't just let Germany march through your lands while you stand idly by while France and the whole balance of Europe falls!"

Belgium stared at the Nordic nation's hands that were enclosed around hers. She didn't know what to say. After a couple of moments however, she managed to let some words escape her lips. "Reikland, I don't know. I thank you for this information, and I know that you are caring and looking out for me, but I need to make my own decisions."

Reikland's face fell a little. "I-I know that Emma, but please think about this, you are no match for the German army, he is going to go through you either way. And if it were to escalate to conflict with you, I would be forced to be your enemy. I don't want to do that to either of you guys."

Tim spoke up and tried to appeal to the father like side of Varyn. "Reikland, if you truly do care about us, and remember our times together, please try and change Germany's mind, don't let him come barging through these lands."

Reikland looked ashamed and turned his gaze to the ground. "I can't exactly do that Tim, I won't let countless men and boys rush into their deaths trying to invade France the long way. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And besides, Ludwig is very much being heavily influenced by Prussia right now, I can't really change his mind set at the moment, and you know that I won't defy Julia." He turned again to Belgium who he was still holding hands with. "And that is why Emma, I implore you, please don't refuse the incoming demand. I don't want to be your enemy, and I don't want to harm either of you."

The Netherlands butted in again. "Reikland, what has happened to you? You used to be a proud and strong nation; now you are just a lapdog of that albino devil! Julia has corrupted you and you are blinded by your senseless love for her! Varyn, if Germany dares invade Belgium, I will not hesitate to back her up and support her. If she goes to war, I will fight you." (I know The Netherlands was neutral in WW1 but this is alternate history)

The dirty blonde appeared hurt by what the Dutch man had first said, but he quickly regained his composure. "I realize that Tim, and I don't want it to come to that. So please Belgium, please tell me that you won't refuse him." Reikland begged.

Emma sat motionless. What could she do? She knew she couldn't hold back the might of the German Empire, but she couldn't just stand by and let France be invaded… she couldn't do that to Francis.

The Belgian stood up and stared at the Reikish man who she loved as a father. "Varyn, thank you for being considerate and trying to protect me, but I can't allow this, I will not be a bystander while Europe falls. Germany will either have to go the long way, or try his best to push through my lands, which I will defend to the last man."

Reikland's face turned angry and frustrated, and he grabbed the woman's arm rather roughly. "Emma! Do you even hear yourself?! What you are talking about is madness! Germany will not be stopped by your heavily un-urbanized country! He will plow through your lands like a steamroller whether you like it or not and I will have to support him! You cannot hope to stand against the two of us together, even with Holland's support!" His grip on Emma's arm had tightened as he shouted.

Belgium tried to pry the dirty blonde from her arm and winced slightly at the pain. "R-Reikland, let go. You're hurting me."

But the words seemed to not reach the man, and he only gripped harder. "Emma, listen to me! I do not want to be your enemy! You or Tim! Please rethink this and comply with Germany's terms! Plea-"

A gunshot rang through the air.

"She said let go." A very stern Holland said, standing over Reikland with a Luger pistol in his hand, smoke rising from out of the barrel.

Reikland had collapsed onto one knee and was gripping his side, blood already pouring out of the wound. Varyn, stunned, turned his head and looked at the Dutch man in pain. "Y-You shot me."

The Netherlands grabbed his sister and began to walk away from their friend. "She said what she wanted to say and has made her decision." He looked down at the shocked Belgian and nudged her shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

Emma stared at her brother's face, tears in her eyes. "T-Tim, why?"

The Netherlands's face softened ever so slightly with compassion, but soon turned ice cold once again. He gripped her arm and started dragging her away. "I said let's go." And the two left the Reikish man in the night bleeding with a bullet in his side, wondering what had just happened.

December 14th, 1914

Laezet, Reikland

Norway's P.O.V.

Lukas sat reading a book in the library of Reikland's home. He glanced at the frost covered window that showed the first signs of the approaching winter season. He sighed, wishing he was back home, when Varyn himself appeared out of the corner of his eyes. He put the book down and turned towards the fellow Nordic, awaiting whatever he had to say.

When the Reikish man was close enough he stopped, standing so close, Norway noticed the bags under his eyes and grew slightly concerned for his master. "Lukas, you have been a faithful subject under me for these past seventy years and have never disobeyed or questioned my authority, and I thank you for that whole heartedly." When the dirty blonde paused, Norway nodded and waited for him to continue. "But, today I have an order for you to carry out."

"And that is?" The platinum blonde asked.

Reikland waited a while before hesitantly responding. "You are not going to like this, but the war hasn't exactly been going as planned. We weren't sure if Britain was going to join so soon, which he did, the Schlieffen Plan has failed, and we are locked in a stalemate on the western front. And now with the fact that I have to fight the superior British navy along with the French, I am getting ready for my naval invasion of Russia, I have to keep the sea blockade on Belgium and the Netherlands active, and I have to keep sending troops to the mainland, you would see that I don't have many spare ships lying around."

"What are you asking?" Norway inquired coldly.

"Ludwig, Julia, and I have decided that it would be great if we could have more ports along the North Sea under our command, along with any ships they might have. And that is why we are going to declare war on Denmark."

"What?!"

"Exactly, but bear with me, because it is going to get worse." the Celtic paused. "Since the German army is occupied in both the west and the east, and I have already mentioned why I am busy, I am ordering you as my vassal to go in my place to invade and occupy Denmark."

"WHAT?!"

Reikland frowned. "I knew you wouldn't be happy, but there is no avoiding it Lukas, you are going to do this one way or another. Besides, Mathias isn't going to put up much of a resistance, you probably won't even have to fight him. In fact, you could probably just ask him to surrender!" the man chuckled at this. "But if you are wondering, we are also invading him because he has been trading with Britain, and could act as a staging ground for an invasion into the heart of Germany. That is why while a small German force invades Jutland (the main Danish peninsula) from the south and distracts them, you will sail into Copenhagen and demand their surrender. If there is any opposition, you must destroy it, but I doubt there will much. You could probably just stride in and take the capitol in a couple of hours."

"I-I know, but Mathias is… my friend." the younger blonde muttered.

Varyn kneeled down to be eye level with Norway. "I know Luk (Varyn's nickname for Norway), but like I said, he won't put up a big fight, especially if you are the one to do it. And besides..." Reikland's face grew cold then, and he stood up and turned his face away from Norway. "I promised your mother that I would keep you guys safe." He was silent for a while. "See this as putting that promise into action, as I don't intend to annex him, but Germany wouldn't mind it."

There was a long silence between the two Nordic nations until Lukas finally spoke up. "Fine.. I'll do it."

The dirty blonde turned his head back to the shorter nation. "What?"

"I said I will do it. But not for you…" Lukas trailed off. "For her."

Reikland smiled and ruffled Norway's hair. "Great! This means so much to me! Thank you Luk!"

Norway swatted the older nations hand away, not wanting to be touched. "I told you not to call me that!"

Reikland laughed and started to exit the library. "I can call you whatever I please! Luuuuuk!" The man said, dragging out the name while disappearing down the hall.

Norway sighed and fixed his hair.

 _What did I just agree to do?_

December 26th, 1914

Copenhagen, Denmark

Norway's P.O.V.

Norwegian soldiers pushed through the streets of the surrendering city, occupying various important buildings and advancing to just erected Christiansborg Palace. (Building that the head of Danish government resides) Reikland's plan had worked; the 40,000 men set to defend Copenhagen had been cut by more than half to defend the fake invasion in the south by the Germans, which only left 14,000 men to defend the capitol, letting Norway easily capture it.

When Lukas reached the port of Copenhagen, Krag-Jørgensen rifle in hand, he looked out across the frozen Kattegat (strait between Sweden and Denmark) and remembered the time when Sweden crossed it and kicked Denmark's ass. The Nordic nation laughed to himself at the memory of his friend's misery. He looked up towards the sky that was grey with the prelude of an impending snow storm. As Norway looked across the ice, he spotted a figure coming towards him.

 _Who is that?_

Lukas hopped over the stone wall onto to the ice and raised his rifle towards the approaching person.

"HALT!" He commanded, and took aim.

The figure did not stop and only got closer. As it neared the blonde, he noticed that it was a tall man, from the shape, but it was hard to make him out because it was getting dark outside, and the man was wearing a cloak. The Norwegian's finger tightened on the trigger and prepared to fire upon the cloaked figure.

"I ORDER YOU TO STOP!" He shouted again, but to no avail. When the man was only a few meters away, he pulled back his hood, revealing a quite familiar face.

"Mathias! What are you doing here?!" He called out, lowering the rifle only slightly.

The tall Danish man smiled and took a step closer. "I came to see you Lukas."

Norway raised the rifle once more towards his… friend. "I told you to stop! What do you want?! I don't want to hurt you!"

"I know you won't shoot me Nor, so answer me this; why are you doing this?"

Norway grew angry at his stubborn friend. "Dammit Denmark! I didn't have a choice! Varyn ordered me to do this!"

"That's not the real case is it? I know you, you wouldn't hurt anybody, much less me. Is it possible that you us to be together again? Maybe this time both under the Reikish flag?" Denmark asked, taking another step closer.

The rifle in Lukas's hands was growing heavy. "Dammit Mathias! I told you to stop! I will shoot you!"

Denmark raised his hands to show his defenselessness, and advanced even more. "No you won't. Come on, it's me."

Norway was growing more frustrated by the second. "Mathias! I-" he stopped. Something cold touched his nose.

It had begun to snow.

Lukas turned his head to the sky as tiny ice crystals fell all around them and the storm started. An eerie silence fell upon the two, and the noises from the city faded away. Mathias stepped even closer. "I want to let you know that I'm not mad with you. I know I lost." Denmark laughed. "Huh, losing. That's something I've been doing a lot now haven't I?" He took another step closer.

 _Damn it's cold_

Norway's grip on the rifle wavered, and he began to shiver from the drop in temperature. "Mathias I'm not here to hurt you but we are at war! If you come any closer I will shoot you and bring you to Reikland!"

"We both know that you won't." The dirty blonde responded, approaching even more. The Dane was now point blank distance from the barrel. Any shot now would hit him no matter what. Stepping forward one last time, the bayonet of the rifle was just inches from the taller man's chest.

Norway's eyesight grew blurry, and his finger began to close around the trigger. The snow was now falling heavily and the wind bit at Lukas.

 _It's so cold_

Denmark smiled once more. "Hey Nor? Merry Christmas if no one told you yesterday."

Suddenly the rifle fell out of his hands and clattered onto the ice.

Norway fell to his knees and Mathias kneeled down to his level, smiling his stupid grin. "See? I told you wouldn't."

"I-I can't do it."

The dirty blonde looked confused. "Do what?"

Lukas turned his head and looked up towards the taller blonde with tears welling in his eyes. "I can't hurt you."

Denmark's grin returned and he embraced the shorter nation. "I know Lukas, I know." And with that, Norway began to cry. Something he hadn't done in a long time. But right now he didn't care. Right now, as the snow swirled around him and his best friend, no one could see him, and so he cried without shame. He hugged his friend from whom he had been separated from for so long and sobbed into his shoulder, the snow and nighttime darkness taking them away.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's note: I have decided to stop doing accents for when certain nations speak as I found it tedious and not necessary for the story. So as of now there will be no accents for any characters and I have gone back and corrected all speech of the nations in previous chapters. (I might have missed a couple so you might still see some)

Also, in this fanfiction, Hungary is older than Prussia, as historically, the Teutonic Order was founded in 1190, while the Kingdom of Hungary was founded in 1000. So they do do not grow up together.

Chapter 15

-Can You Keep a Secret?-

Marienburg, 1335

"You need to do better than that Julchen!" The dirty blonde taunted, offering the girl a hand back up off the ground.

"No fair! You're bigger and stronger than me!" The albino complained as she got up.

The two had been practicing their swordsmanship for the better part of the day in the shadow of the large fortress of Marienburg, with the red eyed girl not making much progress in her skills.

"Julchen, there are going to be a lot of enemies on the battlefield who will be bigger and stronger than you; you have to know how to counter them. And besides, you're a big girl now, right?"

Julchen crossed her arms in disapproval. "Yeah, but I literally just won the war against Felix, even Elizaveta and Toris together with him couldn't defeat me by myself. Can't I take a break for a while?"

Varyn ruffled her short silver hair and smiled. "Hey, remember what I said, you always need to be prepared for anything. The King of Poland might be dead, but Felix is still angry at losing Pomerelia to you and much of the Silesian lands to Bohemia. And also, you haven't even signed a treaty yet, so he could potentially invade at any given notice."

The albino smirked at the statement. "Hah! As if! That crossdressing pansy already had his ass handed to him from me. I bet he's crying in some castle right now at his losses! He won't attack for a long time."

Varyn merely shrugged. "You never know. Anyways, let's go through that drill one more time, as he will come back with a vengeance at some point; you need to be prepared."

The German teen slumped her shoulders in disapproval. "But we've been doing that for ages! Can't I rest? I'm so tired right now."

"And here I was, thinking that children were just bursting with energy!" The Nordic exclaimed sarcastically.

Julchen frowned and punched the dirty blonde in the arm. "Hey! I'm not a kid any more! I'm a developing and blooming young woman thank you very much! You even said it yourself!" She folded her arms in dissatisfaction.

Varyn smiled at the girl who had grown so much in the last few decades, she really was starting to become a young woman now. "Yeah, but you'll always be that little girl from back then to me. Anyways if you're really that exhausted, then I guess we can continue tomorrow. I'll be in the library in the meantime if you need me." He said while carrying his gear towards the main fortress.

But before the Celtic nation exited the training grounds, he spun on his heels and turned back towards the albino. "Remember! We start at sunrise!" And waved her off.

"Ugghhh! That's so early!"

"Do I hear a complaint? That will be an extra hour of training for you miss!" The dirty blonde called back sarcastically, laughing along his merry way.

"UUUUGGGGHHHHHH!"

*Timeskip to later that evening*

Like he said before, Julchen found the grey eyed nation in the small library that the fortress contained. He was sitting in a chair reading a book which she did not recognize. He seemed transfixed on whatever he was looking at and didn't even notice the albino come in. She then noticed that the chair he was sitting in was the one with an almost broken leg; and then an idea popped into her head.

When she was barely a few feet from him, she crept behind him and crouched to face the leg that was about to break. She then inspected the weak wood and stood up. With the dirty blonde still unaware, she drew her leg backwards ready to slam it into the leg of the chair only to hear a voice.

"That's not going to work Julchen."

"What!? I thought you didn't notice me!"

Varyn laughed. "You think I couldn't see you? I hope you know that you're not very sneaky."

"If you knew that I was there, why didn't you react?"

Reikland looked up for a second in contemplation. "I wanted to see what you would do."

The silver haired teen groaned. "Man, you ruined my awesome prank!"

"Well excuse me for not wanting to fall on my ass."

Julchen crossed her arms and pouted. "Well you could've just played along and let me have my fun."

Varyn rolled his eyes and raised his book up again. "Fine, go ahead, pretend like I never saw you."

"No, you ruined the excitement."

He sighed. "Well then, if you don't mind, I will get back to my reading."

But Julchen came around in front of him. "A-Actually, Varyn, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Something important to me."

He put his book down at looked at the albino. "Yeah kiddo, what's up?"

The girl averted her eyes for a second before returning his gaze. "Well, I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone else yet, but I feel like I can only trust you with knowing it. So you have to promise not to tell anybody alright?"

He stared back at her, his eyes slightly concerned. "Getting me a little worried here Julchen; but alright, let's hear it."

"Do you promise?" She pestered.

The dirty blonde chuckled softly. "Yeah, I promise. Now what's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Well… before I was sent away from the holy lands and to where I am now, and before I met you; I stayed at Miss Hungary's for a little while."

Varyn internally got nervous at the mention of the brunette. "Elizaveta?"

"Ja, and during my time there, I was meant to protect her from the Cumans at her border, and I grew to be fond of her. She was very sweet to me and I kinda wanted to be like her; she had her feminine charm, but she was also head strong and always ready for a fight."

Varyn smiled. "That's Elizaveta for you." But then he remembered what she originally wanted to talk about. "But, I don't see the problem here."

"Well like I said, I grew to be fond of her during my short time there… and you might have noticed her… beauty…" the albino trailed off.

Reikland gulped, he had most certainly noticed that all those years ago. "Yes, she is an attractive woman Julchen, but I am still failing to get your point."

The German teen sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that… that I think I like her. Like, I think I want to be with her." She then looked down at the ground almost ashamedly.

The Nordic was at the least surprised. "Really? Oh man you have your first crush! Oh how you've grown so much! My little Julchen in love!" He rushed over and hugged her. "Oh this is so exciting!"

The albino however squirmed and struggled under his grip. "GAH! Reikland let me go!"

He set the girl down gently and sat back down. "Oh, sorry. But I'm so happy! You're finally experiencing love for another! Oh I have to tell France right away! He will want to hear this!"

"No, Varyn wait! I don't want anybody to know! Why are you so happy about it? And don't say that I'm in love! I'm not… it's just… ugh, I don't know. I wanted to ask you for advice. I mean I don't know what to do with these feelings around her, and I most certainly can't reveal this to anyone that is not a nation… I'm scared of what would happen if anybody knew."She then looked up at him with her crimson eyes that were now saddened. "What should I do?"

Reikland's elation faded away and he felt empathy for the silver haired teen. "Uh, yeah, I guess I got a little over excited… but uh…"

He didn't really know what to say, but soon straightened his face out and extended an arm to her shoulder. "Well first let's get this straight. Why do you think you like her? I mean, by what you said, it was about a century ago when you lived with her, and even then you were much younger. And just recently you fought against her in the war… so help me if I'm a little confused."

Julchen played with her fingers and didn't meet his gaze. "Well it's true that it was a while ago when I lived with her. And she did kick me out when I didn't want to be under her direct authority anymore…"

"Wait she kicked you out?"

"Yeah, I asked to be under the Pope's command instead of her's, and when she found out, she had me leave. That's when I was sent to the Prussian lands."

The dirty blonde was even more confused. "But I thought you said that you liked living with her? Why did you ask for the Pope's authority?"

"To be honest, I didn't actually enjoy my time there all too much. I got hurt often in battle by the Cumans; but Elizaveta made it better to be there. She made me feel more at home when I was not. But I felt like a liability to her, so I wanted to try and free myself to get out of her hair."

"Okay, but what about the war just recently? I mean, I know she wasn't the direct aggressor and only supported Felix, but still."

"Well I don't believe she actually wanted to fight me. I mean we never directly faced each other on the battlefield, and I think that she only supported Felix because her king told her to. As to why I think I like her, I don't really know. I just know that whenever I'm near her, I get nervous and flustered when I have to talk with her. She had always been nice to me and I guess that it's starting to get me."

Reikland smiled at her confession. "Love can work like that sometimes. It often doesn't make sense and doesn't even need to, you just go with it. However, I see where you find your problem. You're scared of revealing that you are attracted to women."

"Well, I don't think I like women, it's just, I think Hungary might be an exception."

"But that's not how the church would see it. If anything you would receive worse treatment for this than when you first came to these lands."

Julchen stared at the floor. "Exactly, that's why I don't know what to do. Here I am, trying to be a prime example of the church, liking another woman."

"It's okay Julchen, I'm not judging you, you can't really help it. Love cannot be contained by our mere choice. It knows no boundaries and cannot be restrained." He paused for a second. "Well, no boundaries within reason. You should tell her one day, that will be the only way to get it off your chest."

"Yeah, but that's what I'm worried about, confessing to her. Well, that and getting burned at the stake again if anyone found out." She smacked her lips together. "Not too fond of that." She then lifted her head back up to the taller blonde and pointed at his face. "But that's why you can't tell anyone! Not France, not any of your Celtic friends, not Austria, and most certainly not Hungary!"

The grey eyed nation lifted his hands in defeat. "Okay, I won't." He then grinned slyly. "Yet."

Julchen punched him in the arm hard. "Varyn!"

The older nation rubbed his arm where she hit it. "Alright, alright, I was just joking. But you have to reveal your feelings at some point. Either that or if you're really scared about it, try to suppress these emotions of love."

The albino devil, however, was still angry. "It's not love! I just… like her."

"You still have a crush though."

She punched him in the arm again in the exact same spot. "Shut up!"

The Nordic faked his pain and grasped his arm once more. "Oh Julchen! My weak and brittle old bones can't take much more!"

The albino folded her arms in annoyance. "Oh quiet! Your body's not a day past your early-twenties!"

"Ha! You're right! Damn, I love being young." Reikland laughed, running a hand through this wavy and soft hair.

Julchen smiled and her mood eased. "But I'm actually really glad you took it so well. Thank you Varyn. I thought you might be weirded out by me liking another woman."

"Why should I care? Heck, I was pagan for eleven centuries. To this day I am still baffled by some Christian traditions."

"Really?" She paused for a moment. "You know Varyn, I don't really know much about your life before we met. You never really told me that much."

He laughed dryly. "Well, I don't really consider my past life as an open book for anyone to read. But I don't mind answering any questions."

There was a long pause between the two.

"Reikland? Did you ever love someone?"

"What the-" He began, "Where's that coming from?"

"Hey, you said I could ask."

The tall Celtic sighed. "I guess I did..." He then looked towards the window and smiled sadly. "But _jah_ , I did, a while ago."

The albino's eyes perked up. "You did? Who was it?"

"Sorry Julchen. But I prefer not to talk about it."

Julchen was not satisfied. "Oh come on! You said that you would answer my questions! I want to know more about you!"

Reikland knew that she wouldn't stop until she got an answer. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and sighed. "Fine, but I won't tell you who it was. What do you want to know?"

The German teen smiled at the chance to finally be able to learn more about her friend. "How long were you a… uh, a thing?"

Varyn looked up to the ceiling and thought for a moment. "Well, we kinda broke off for awhile and then came back together again later. In total I would say about 3 centuries."

Her eyes widened. "Three hundred years? So then they must have been a nation!"

" _Jah_ , of sorts."

Julchen was only getting more interested in Varyn's past love life. "So, uh, what happened?"

The dirty blonde was silent for a while before answering. "She made some bad decisions later on in life and we separated for good." Reikland then put his hand over his chin and mouth, rubbing his stubble. There then was a short pause. "She… she died before you came into existence."

The silver haired teen's smile faded. "Oh, uh, sorry Varyn. I didn't want to bring back any bad memories." she said, concerned for her older friend.

"No, it's okay, you didn't know. I guess it does feel good to talk to someone about it; even if it's just vaguely."

The albino felt a little better, but only got more curious. "So you said 'she', so it must have been a woman… and you said that she passed away before I was born… so maybe it was…" Her eyes lit up and she jumped out of her chair. "Britannia!"

Varyn's face wrinkled in disgust. "What?! No! She was my sister!"

Julchen however looked confused. "You had a sibling?"

"Well, I don't think we were actually related, but that's what we considered each other."

The German, still interested in finding out more about him, continued on with her guessing. "So if it wasn't her then maybe… was it Gaul?"

Reikland folded his arms and looked even more annoyed than before. "No, that was Germania's woman."

"Then maybe it was…"

Varyn had heard enough at this point and wanted to end this conversation; so he stood up and tried to cease her guessing. "Look Julchen, I really don't want to talk about-"

"Was it Scandinavia? Her name was Astrid right?" She interrupted.

The man froze.

He hadn't heard someone say that name in a long time.

A long silence filled the air around the two and Varyn stood motionless; painful memories that he tried to forget flooding back into his mind.

Julchen red eyes grew worried as they were hit with realization. "Oh, Varyn, I'm sorry… I didn't know…"

The Nordic man fell back into his chair whose leg snapped on impact and both he and the rest of the chair came crashing to the floor.

"Varyn! Are you okay?!" Julchen shouted worriedly.

The grey eyed man didn't look up to her and waved the teen off. "Yeah I'm fine," he stopped for a second, gathering his thoughts, "but do you think… do you think that you could leave me alone for bit?"

The albino felt guilty over making the man upset and to have returned bad memories to him. "Yeah, sure… I'll leave for awhile." And so she started towards the door to the hallway. But before she left she turned around and looked at her friend lying on the floor with wooden debris next to him. "Varyn?"

The dirty blonde slowly turned his head to her voice. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was that bad."

He finally smiled again. "It's alright. I never told you."

She then closed the door behind her and left him alone.

She didn't see him for another two days.

Translations:

Jah: Reikish for 'yes'


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

-Simpler times-

Around 100 B.C.

Central Askroltia

The dirty blonde boy ran through the lush green forest, the wind whipping through his hair and the branches of the trees slapping at his face.

He was running behind the two girls who were in front of him by quite a distance, easily racing ahead of him with their older bodies. He began to feel tired from the sprinting and panted heavily, slowing down his pace.

"Gwyneth! Astrid! Wait up!" He called out in front of him, not wanting to be left behind.

The taller of the two girls, the one with platinum blonde hair, turned around to the younger child. "Come on Varyn! You need to catch up little guy!" But nevertheless, they both slowed down so as to match the small boy's speed.

When he had caught to them, he folded his arms in annoyance. "Stop calling me that! I'm barely even two centuries younger than you!"

The platinum blonde put her hands to her cheeks and bent down. "Aww! Look! You're so cute when you're flustered!"

"Shut up Scandi!" The dirty blonde yelled.

"Make me!" She shouted back, sticking out her tongue and closing her purple eyes.

"Gwyneth! Make her stop!" He cried to the other girl.

The ginger put her hands to her thighs and bent down slightly, still tired from the running and breathing heavily. She then looked up to the two children in front of her. "Y-You shouldn't make fun of h-him like that Astrid, even if he is my brother."

The taller blonde folded her arms and smirked. "Man you two suck at running. And besides, you don't even know if you are related; all you did was find him in the woods during a trip to my lands."

"She is too my sister!" The boy shouted.

The purple eyed blonde put her hands to her hips. "Oh yeah? Prove it!"

But before the two could start arguing again, they were shushed by their ginger friend. "Guys! Quiet! I think I hear something!" She whispered, peering into the dense vegetation that surrounded the group. She then delved into the thick bushes until the two could not see her.

"Gwyneth? What is it?" The platinum blonde asked, slowly approaching to where their friend disappeared.

The younger boy followed to where the taller girl stood and stared at the spot where his sister seemingly vanished.

There was a long pause between the two worried friends before a sudden "ME!" was heard and the green eyed ginger burst through the bushes back towards the two others, tackling them both to the ground.

She began to pin both of them down despite their struggle and the fact that there were two against one. And when they finally stopped squirming and resisting, the ginger raised her head in triumph. "This is what you get for arguing all the time!"

The taller blonde laid her head back down to the ground and groaned. "Dang it Gwyneth! How are you stronger than both of us?!" She demanded.

The ginger girl closed her eyes and smirked. And while she could temporarily not see the two below her, the platinum blonde looked towards the younger boy beside her, gestured to the ginger with her head, and winked.

"Well it's obviously because I-" she started, but was cut off as the two below lunged up with her not prepared, and turned the tables on the ginger; the three falling into a wrestling heap on the ground with fits of laughter and shouting coming from them.

And then Varyn woke up.

 _Present Day_

The two nations where in the living room of the large house, the dirty blonde lounging on the sofa, a book in one hand, and the other gently stroking the head of the albino lying beside him.

"Julia, did my past self ever talk about Scandinavia with you?"

The Prussian woman opened her eyes from her peaceful dozing and lifted her head to the taller man. "What? Where did that come from?"

Varyn took off his glasses and set them down on the side table along with his book. "The last two nights I had dreams about her." He paused. "Well, the first was with the Teutonic you, and she was only mentioned; but in the second one, I was a young boy and was playing with her and I believe Britannia."

Julia appeared somewhat melancholy and turned her gaze back down to across the room. "You almost never talked about her before… You told me once that something bad happened between you two and that you didn't want to talk about it; so I never asked. And whenever even the name of the region was brought up around you, you always seemed bothered."

Varyn laid his head back into the pillows on the couch. "Strange… we seemed to have a good friendship together when we were kids… I wonder what happened."

The albino cuddled closer to the Nordic and laid her head on his chest. "Try not to be too worried about it Var; I am pretty sure your past self tried to forget about it. Maybe it is for the best that you don't remember."

"Yeah… maybe…" He trailed off, staring up at the ceiling; the two falling asleep together in each other's arms.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

-Who you used to be-

Late July, 2015

"So what do you want for breakfast today?"

Julia thought for a second before deciding. "Why don't we have pancakes? We still have plenty of maple syrup from when Canada visited."

Varyn sighed; they had had pancakes nearly four times a week since the party. "Again? Can't we mix it up a bit? I mean, you must really love pancakes to have them this often."

Prussia put her hands to her hips and scoffed. "Of course! I adore pancakes! They are the best breakfast food ever! Who would want anything else?"

"How about waffles?"

The albino was stunned. "What?! Pancakes are so much better than waffles!" She then cupped her cheeks in adoration. "They're so fluffy and sweet and smooth! And you can make multiple at once!"

The dirty blonde leaned back on the counter in the kitchen and folded his arms. "Yeah, but waffles are crispy and soft at the same time, and they are perfect for holding toppings; unlike pancakes where the syrup would just glide off of it."

Prussia pouted. "I can't believe I'm in love with a man who prefers waffles; you spend too much time with Belgium and her desserts. Until you admit that pancakes are superior we might as well make our own breakfasts."

"Seriously? Do we even have a waffle iron?"

The red eyed nation grabbed a container of batter from the pantry and shoved it into the dirty blonde's hands. " _Ja_ , now get cooking _liebe_."

 _*Le Time Skip*_

"How do you even burn pancakes?"

Julia's head hung low as she drove her fork into the extra waffles. "I don't know."

The albino woman had tried to make her own pancakes, and was doing well, but they suddenly caught on fire when she left the pan unattended for a moment; reducing the contents to burnt crisps. Thankfully, there was enough batter to make extra waffles, which Julia reluctantly accepted.

"Hey, isn't your brother visiting today?" Reikland asked in between chews of food.

"Var, don't speak with food in your mouth, and yes, he should be here in the next hour or so, so let's finish quickly and get ready."

After finishing, the two went around the house, tidying and sprucing it up for their expected guest. About an hour later, they heard a knock at the door.

"That must be him, exactly on time as always." Prussia muttered, going towards the front door.

Behind it revealed the tall and rather stern looking German whom Varyn had met at the party. Upon entering and greeting the two, he smiled at the Celtic man and extended his hand.

"Hello Reikland, I know you met me at America and Canada's party, but I thought it might be better to have a proper introduction. I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt, the younger brother of Prussia here, and I represent Germany."

Varyn shook the the blonde's hand and noticed that he was not eye level with him; maybe a centimeter shorter than the German. Reikland was a little irritated by this, considering he hadn't met a single nation that was taller than him yet. " _Jotomin_ Ludwig, but…" he peered behind him outside, "did you come here alone?"

Germany turned away from the two and looked a little awkward. "Well, uh… about that-"

" _Ciao_!" A shorter auburn brown haired man rushed behind the German and stopped inside the house.

"Italy?" The Nordic asked, trying to remember if that was correct.

" _Sí!_ My seat belt got stuck and I couldn't get out!" He then looked up to the much taller blonde. "Germany! Why didn't you help me?!"

The German gritted his teeth. "Because, you were perfectly able to get out yourself. You don't need me to help you all the time!"

"But it's fun to rely on others!"

Julia suddenly butted between the two, not wanting them to argue. "Hey guys, let's just uh, go inside shall we?"

After settling down in the living room, the nations sat across from one another on the couches; Italy with Germany, and Prussia with Reikland.

"So, we came today to check up on you Reikland, you know, after what happened."

" _Sí_! And I brought some pasta over! We can all eat that latter today!" The Italian exclaimed.

Varyn however, only stared at Germany, barely hearing what the two had just said.

Ludwig noticed the staring and grew a bit uncomfortable. "Uh, Reikland? Something wrong?"

The grey eyed nation, broken from his trance, shook his head. "Um, sorry, I thought I recognized you from one of my memories…"

Italy perked up at this. "Ve~ really? Which one?"

Reikland thought for a second. "Well, it was… uh…" he started, but soon his vision grew hazy, and before he knew it, he was not in the living room anymore.

 _August 8th, 1806_

 _Berlin, Prussia_

Reikland stood outside of the door, separated from his lover and her dying brother by a piece of wood. He lightly knocked on the door. "Prussia?" He asked.

There was no answer. His only response was silence.

Reikland knocked again. "Prussia? I'm… I'm coming in okay?"

More silence.

Varyn sighed and slowly opened the door, it creaked loudly as he gently pushed it. Behind the door revealed the albino, kneeling beside her brother's bed. He lay there motionless.

 _Oh God…_

She didn't seem to notice the Celtic coming in; her eyes transfixed on the body of her brother. Reikland approached the two and crouched next to Julia, knowing exactly what she was going through.

"He's gone." She muttered softly.

They stayed there in silence as a single tear fell from the albino's eyes. Varyn noticed this and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into him. She latched onto his shoulder. "He's really gone."

The albino then looked up towards the dirty blonde, her eyes welling up. "Varyn, you've had this happen to you before…" she paused. "What… What do I do?"

The Nordic looked down at his lover with compassion. He didn't really know what to tell her, and so he just pulled her even closer. "Just cry for now… it's okay to grieve."

The Prussian looked like she was about to protest, but something appeared to hit her, and she immediately began to sob.

Long cries emitted from Julia, shaking her whole body. Sorrow filled the atmosphere, and even the weather outside the window seemed to be in grievance, as it began to rain hard; clouding the sky and making the room much darker than when Varyn first entered.

After what seemed like an hour, Prussia's sobbing slowly died down, and the dirty blonde attempted to empathize with her. "I know I wasn't always on the best terms with your brother… but I'm sorry that I wasn't able to say a proper goodbye to him."

Reikland looked down towards the violet eyed nation; however, instead of regaining her composure, Julia's face hardened and appeared menacing. "I hate France so much." She muttered.

"What?"

She turned her head towards the dirty blonde, her face reddened with anger.

"I'm going to make that fucking frog pay for what he has done! He did this to him!"

She turned her gaze to the motionless body of her brother. "I'm going to bring you back! I promise! I will unite the German states no matter what! Nothing is going to stop me from this!"

Reikland had never seen the albino woman so angered before. He put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. "Julia, I don't believe that Francis directly wanted this." He tried to choose his words carefully. "Your brother had been sick for a long time… it was inevitable; you can't deny that." He paused for a moment. "I don't think it's fair to put all the blame on Francis himself."

The Prussian shook from Varyn's grip and jumped up. "How would you know? You can't know that frog's intentions! He killed my brother! He doesn't care about others! He even killed Burgundy for Christ's sake! How can you forgive him for that?! Or has your mind forgotten with your old age?!"

Reikland stood up and met her gaze, shocked at what she just said; but she didn't seem to notice what she was saying in her anger.

"Do you have any idea what I'm going through right now?! Do you know what it's like to lose a sibling that has been with you your life?!"

The grey eyed nation stood still for a moment, the woman was clearly in a state of hysteria. "Yes, I do." He said softly.

Julia was taken aback by his response and took a step backwards.

Reikland smiled sadly. "Julia, might I remind you that I grew up with an entirely different group of nations; all of which have died over the centuries, leaving only me behind?"

The albino's violet-red eyed were filled with shock and tears. "Varyn…"

"Don't think that I am asking for pity, just know that I can relate to your situation."

Prussia stared at her lover who she had just insensitively shouted at. "Varyn, i'm so sorry. I-I just was angry-"

She was cut off as the old Nordic embraced her. "It's okay, Julia. I understand."

The woman was surprised by the hug at first; but quickly relaxed in his arms and began to cry again. The raindrops lightly falling onto the roof above them.

 _Early 1915_

 _Near the Rhine River_

"It's okay mein schticky friend; we will see ourselves through this war."

Reikland traveled to the now established Western Front to support the German offensive, only to find the representation of the German Empire talking to a stick in a forest.

"Uh, Ludwig? Are you alright?" Varyn asked, approaching the German.

The blue eyed nation quickly turned around to the unexpected visitor and stuttered embarrassingly. "O-Oh! Reikland! I-I didn't see y-you there! Is something wrong?!"

The dirty blonde raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? Why are you talking to a stick?"

Germany looked down at this stick in his hands and quickly laid it down on the ground. "You heard that?" He then sighed. "Well, I guess you deserve an answer… The truth is, I'm really nervous about this war. I know that I'm well trained; Prussia has seen to that; but this is my first time in real combat. I'm just worried that I won't meet up to my sister's expectations."

Varyn was at first sad; for the blonde really didn't have any memories of the Holy Roman Empire. But he felt empathy for the the new nation. He got closer and wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulder… who was now taller than him. "Damn Ludwig, you've really grown haven't you? Gonna have to start going on my tippy toes to be at complete eye level with you know aren't I?" He then smiled. "But don't worry, Julia will always be proud of you and adore you; there's no way you can disappoint her. And besides you should have confidence! We can easily take out France together while my ships block the English from reinforcing the mainland! This war will be a piece of cake as long as everything plays out according to plan." He then paused. "However, I am worried about Italy… he hasn't joined our cause yet, and I heard that the Entente is trying to dissuade him from joining us." The Celtic then smiled again. "But he isn't that much of a threat. I'm sure that we will win this war."

Ludwig sighed and slumped his shoulders. " _Ja_ , I guess you're right. I'm just scared because this is my first real war… I feel inexperienced."

Again Varyn was saddened.

 _He really doesn't remember his time as the HRE, does he?_

"Ah, don't worry about it Ludi, just think of this as realistic training!" The Celt thought about what he just said. "Well, just that you'll be killing real people…"

The German looked very uncomfortable with the dirty blonde's statement. " _Ja_ , I guess… but please don't call me Ludi, it makes me sound like a kid."

Reikland grinned. "Oh come on! I love giving nicknames to people! And besides, you do have to realize the age difference between us; You might as well be a newborn compared to me."

Ludwig sighed. "Very well. Just please don't use it around others… maybe when it's just us two."

The Nordic clapped the blue eyed nation on the back. "Yea! _Taka_ Ludi!" And he ran off away from the clearing where he found the young German.

 _Back to present day_

"Hey Var?"

The Nordic snapped back to reality, noticing that he was back in his house with the three other nations. Prussia was there staring at him worriedly.

"You kinda blacked out there for a second; are you alright?"

Varyn rubbed his head, it felt weird from the just gained memories. "Yeah… I'm okay…" he then noticed Ludwig who was also staring at him. The dirty blonde quickly jumped up and pointed at the German. "Wait! Y-Y-You used to be t-the H-H… Holy-"

He was immediately cut off as the albino put her hand over his mouth and dragged him into the kitchen, out of earshot from the two sitting in the living room.

When she finally released her grip from the Nordic, he coughed and glared at her. "Julia! What was that for?!"

The Prussian forcefully put a finger to his lips. "Shhhhh! They'll hear us!" She whispered loudly.

Reikland was thoroughly confused. "So? Why does it matter? Why did you stop me from speaking?"

Julia scolded him like a child. "Because _dummkopf!_ I never told Ludwig who he used to be!"

The blonde was dumbfounded. "What?! Why?!"

"Because! Do you know how weird it would be to know that you used to be dead for sixty years, only to be put back together into the same body?"

Varyn stopped for a moment to think about this.

 _She does have a point..._

"Well, I guess that makes sense… but he still doesn't know to this day?"

Prussia lightly hit on the arm. "No! And I intend to keep it that way!"

The grey eyed nation put up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I won't tell him. Let's just go back. They might be wondering what's wrong."

Prussia smiled. " _Ja_ , let's go."

When they returned to the other two nations, Germany stood up and approached the two. "What happened? Is everything alright?"

Varyn draped an arm around the taller blonde. "Of course Ludi, everything's fine. Just a little misunderstanding."

Germany sighed. " _Verdammt_ … you remember that nickname?"

Reikland smirked. "Of course Ludi! How could I forget?!"

Ludwig turned his face away from the older nation. "Well you forgot everything else…" he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" The German said quickly, sitting back down on the couch next to the Italian. "Anyways Prussia, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."

The albino looked confused for a second before she sat down next to Reikland. "Hm? What is it West?"

Ludwig took a deep breath before speaking. "Julia, when are you going to return to Germany? You have been here for quite a while and you have responsibilities to attend to back home."

Prussia looked surprised at first, but soon became silent and looked down towards the floor. The three other nations stared at her, waiting for a response. After a long silence however, the albino turned her head up to the three and smirked. "Awwww! West you miss meeee!"

Germany was stunned for a second and looked embarrassed. "What! No! I'm fine with you not home, but you can't be lazy and avoid your work! You need to return home soon!"

Julia frowned and folded her arms. "Why can't you get our other siblings to help out? It's not like they've done anything useful in a while. I am staying here until I feel that Varyn can be left alone by himself."

The light blonde sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Fine... I guess it would be okay to have them assist me… at least until Reikland is better."

The Prussian smiled. "Yea! _Danke bruder!_ " She then hugged Reikland's arm and looked up to him. "That means I can stay longer with you!"

Varyn blushed a little at her affection towards him, but suddenly remembered what she said. "Wait, you have other siblings?"

Prussia looked annoyed. "Of course I do! Did you think the other German states had no personifications?"

Reikland felt embarrassed. "I don't know, I guess I never really thought about it too much… also you never told me about them."

Prussia smiled. "Awww, sorry _liebe_." And then she kissed his cheek.

Feliciano perked up at this. "Ve~ that looks so nice! We should do that Germany!"

Germany blushed hard and stared down towards the Italian. "What?! Of course not!"

"Awwww, just a little peck? It can be quick!"

" _Ich sagte nein_!"

 _*Le time skip*_

Prussia and Germany were seated in the dining room, eating the pasta that Italy had brought over while the two other nations were talking to each other in the living room, already having finished their meals.

The silver haired woman stared down and twirled her fork in the dish. "Hey _bruder."_

Germany looked at his sister. " _Was ist es?_ "

She held her head low and didn't met his eyes. "When do you think I should tell him about what happened in World War Two? Should I even tell him at all; or should I wait until he remembers on his own?"

The younger German sighed. "East, I don't know. Personally, I would wait until he remembers by himself; but if you want to tell him, go ahead."

Julia continued to stare at her food. "I'm… I'm just scared to have him know… seeing as what happened last time… what if he has a similar reaction?" There was a long pause. "I don't want him to leave me again."

Germany put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Julia don't worry, he forgave us once; he'll forgive us again."

This seemed to trigger something within the albino, for she quickly turned her head to her brother and shouted at him. "Sure he forgave you after a while; but he barely he talked or noticed me for thirty years!" The Prussian once more lowered her head. "Do you know how agonizing it is to have someone whose attention means the world to you ignore you?"

Again there was a long pause before their conversation was interrupted by a loud laughter from the dining room. The two siblings looked to see the Reikish and Italian seeming to get along together very well.

Germany smiled warmly and gestured to the two. "See? Varyn's a great guy. There is no reason to be paranoid about him rejecting you again."

Prussia finally smiled. " _Ja_ , I guess you're right…" she looked towards her younger yet taller sibling and punched him lightly in the arm. "As always _bruder_."

The two cleaned up their dishes and went out to join the other nations in the living room, enjoying the night together as they once did so long ago.

Translations:

 _Jotomin:_ Reikish for 'welcome'

 _Taka:_ Reikish for 'thank you'

 _Ich sagte nein:_ German for 'I said no'

 _Was ist es:_ German for 'what is it'


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

-The Surrender-

84 A.D.

Southern Askroltia

Rome sat at the table next to Britannia, waiting for the teenage Askroltian to enter into the room.

After the ambush on his legion and being knocked out about seventeen years ago, Romulus was ransomed back to the Roman Empire for a hefty price; greatly humiliating him. He then vowed to conquer the arrogant Celtic, and about eight years ago he managed to convince emperor Vespasian to launch a second invasion upon the island. About a year after his second landing (this time with ten legions), most of the tribes in the region united into the Askroltian Confederation, which had been successful at repelling him at first. However, the Roman had learned from his past mistakes and had pushed far into Varyn's territory throughout the years; culminating to about a month ago where his legionary troops had crushed the Confederation's forces in a decisive battle. Romulus knew that the Confederation was crumbling, and that the Askroltian people were very demoralized and ready to surrender, but Varyn had kept pushing them on, never giving up. That was when Rome heard from Britannia, who wanted to end this fighting and called her brother here for peace negotiations.

Back at the table, Romulus saw Varyn enter the room, two bodyguards behind him… and a large dark grey wolf.

The Roman immediately jumped up at the sight of the creature. "Y-You brought t-that b-beast in here?!" He shouted, pointing at the wolf.

The dirty blonde smirked. "Of course, if he's not allowed in here, then I'll leave as well."

"He tried to bite my arm off!" Romulus protested, shuddering at the memory from the most recent battle.

"Yeah, Värjö has a tendency to do that when I command him to."

Rome stomped his way towards the teen, ignoring the growl of the demon wolf next to him. "Why you little arrogant brat-"

Romulus was cut off as Britannia got between them, pushing them away from each other. "That's enough you two; we are here to discuss peace, not shed more blood."

When Varyn saw his sister, he looked surprised. "Gwyneth? What are you doing here? You told me this was just going to be between this bastard and I."

Rome sighed at the young Celtic's insults. "It was supposed to be that way, but your sister here insisted on attending; said that she would help with the peace negotiations."

Varyn put his hands down onto the table in defiance. "I already told you that I won't accept any peace terms at the moment. I'm more resilient than Gwyneth, I don't care what she says."

Rome folded his arms in annoyance of the rebellious teenage attitude of the Celt. "Varyn, please, we have been fighting for eight years now, your people are begging to surrender, your forces crushed, and I am in a position to force any demands on you; don't make this harder than this has to be."

The dark eyed teen however wouldn't hear it. "I don't care Romulus, I'm not going to surrender to you no matter what. And I have no idea why you allowed Gwyneth to come here, there's no need for her to be involved in this."

Romulus smiled and turned towards Varyn's sister. "Actually I was just about to address that. Britannia, would you like to take it from here?"

The woman who Varyn had looked up to as an older sister smiled sweetly. "Certainly. Varyn, honey, Romulus is right, this has gone on for too long, it's time to accept defeat. There is no shame in surrendering and saving your people from greater misery. And besides, I believe that we could all benefit greatly under Rome's control. I have been for some years now, and I can already see the many advantages of his rule in my lands."

The Celtic teen couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Gwyneth! What garbage is spewing from your mouth!?" He then turned to the suave Roman who he hated. "What have you done to her?! My real sister would never give up to others so easily, much less convince others to do the same!"

Romulus however stayed perfectly calm. "Actually, your sister was the one who proposed this meeting to me. I was completely ready to further engage you combat, but she convinced me to halt for the time being. You should be grateful for what she has done."

Varyn turned towards his sister in disbelief. "Is this true? It was your idea that I should surrender? Why? You have always told me that I should fight tooth and nail against those who wish to conquer me!"

Britannia smiled once more. "Varyn, when I first told you that, it was more in reference to other tribes and petty states, however, this is the Roman Empire we are talking about; the largest and most powerful empire the world has seen. He is very capable of achieving victory in a drawn out war, while you are not. And besides, living under him is not as bad as I once thought before. Sure my people now have to pay taxes and work for the Romans, but already I have learned so much from him in every way. My people are much further developed than they were before, and there is for the first time almost complete peace in my lands." She then took the hand of her younger brother. "Please Varyn, listen to me as your caring sister who has always looked after you. Please surrender and submit to Rome; I promise to you it will be better this way."

Something must have registered in the teen's mind, as he didn't immediately snap at the idea. His eyes softened as he stared down at the woman who he was now taller than, and the beast that was his pet gently nuzzled his nose against his master's hand. He then sighed. "Fine, I'll hear you guys out, but don't expect me to jump at the idea of becoming just another Roman province."

Romulus decided to speak up. "Actually, that isn't what we had in mind. Our idea was that if you surrendered, then we would make you into a client state."

Varyn looked confused. "A client state? What's that?"

"Well, it's similar to being a province, but I would have less direct control over you, and you would have more autonomy and would be governed by your own people, but still under my rule. Think of it more like a vassal."

The teen thought this over in his mind and considered his options. "That sounds… reasonable, but I still don't like the idea of being under your control."

The Roman laughed. "Varyn, please, me ruling over you would be the best thing that will ever happen to you."

The grey eyed Celt snorted. "How so?"

"Well for starters: I would provide you with Militaristic protection, I would help you establish large settlements, you would be able to trade with my vast empire and get many luxuries, you would get exposed to advanced technologies, I would promote infrastructure in your lands, with peace your population would increase, the list goes on and on."

The teen seemed more and more interested in the idea, which made the Roman happy; he was making ground with the Celt. "Would I be able to practice my own religion?"

"Yes! As long as you acknowledge the Emperor as divine, then any of your practices will be accepted. Even some deities from other beliefs are included in the Roman pantheon."

The Celtic woman stood up at this. "That wasn't the case with me! You banned all practices of Druidism in Britannia!"

"That's because they practice human sacrifice! You should thank me for persecuting those barbarians!" The Roman then turned back to the teen. "But the question is Varyn, are you willing to finally surrender to me?"

The dirty blonde was silent for a while before taking a deep breath and sighed. "Yes…"

Romulus grinned widely. "Yes! I knew you would make the right decision!" He then stood up and extended his hand to the teen. "I promise you that you won't regret this!"

Varyn stared at the Roman's hand suspiciously, but eventually gave in and shook it. "I better not." He muttered.

99 A.D.

Lasatium

(Latin name for Laezet, the capital of Reikland)

(As Varyn has prospered under Rome's control, he has grown to be a late teenager now, about 18)

Askroltia was excited, his childhood friend and minor crush Scandinavia was coming to visit him for the first time in awhile. He was anxious to see her reaction of how much he had physically changed since they last saw each other. She was supposed to meet him at his newly founded settlement of Lasatium, which the Askroltian Confederation had chosen as its capital. And so Varyn had stayed there for the last two nights, his anticipation rising higher each day.

When the Platinum blonde finally arrived by sea, she was surprised at the port when Varyn approached her. "Askroltia?! Is that you?! What the hell happened?! You're taller than me now! And your hair is all wavy and curly!" She whined.

The dirty blonde smiled and hugged the now shorter woman. "It's great to see you too Astrid, but that's what happens when you don't visit me for over forty years."

When they broke apart, the violet eyed Nordic smiled sheepishly. "Yeah… sorry about that…" but she immediately perked up. "But I'm here now! And besides, I'm actually not complaining about the change." She then grabbed his chin and inspected his face. "Your handsome looking now." And smirked.

"Astrid, do you mean to say that you are attracted to men who are considerably younger than you?" He teased.

"Meh, why should I care? And besides, I'm only what? Two and a half centuries older? That's not too much in terms of people like us." She then pinned the Celt to a nearby beam post. "And what if I like my men younger? Then I'll be the one in charge."

Varyn blushed madly from the Nordic's wild confidence and she cackled loudly. "Ah Varyn, I guess you haven't changed that much; still flustered as usual!" She then backed away from the teen.

Varyn gritted his teeth, "Har, Har." He said dryly. "You're so funny."

Astrid smirked. "Indeed I am. And I'm happy to say that we will be seeing a lot more of each other now; the things I had to take care of back home took a while, especially with bróðir Germania, but they're done now, so we can hang out just like old times!" She then paused. "Oh, by the way, have you seen Gwyneth in a while? I haven't seen her for some time now."

The Celt thought for a second, he hadn't considered his 'sister' in a little while now. "Yeah, she's been with Rome for a little bit now, something about meeting up for a policy that he's going to implement in Britannia and later in Askroltia."

Astrid sighed. "Oh yeah, you're with Romulus and his gang now, how's that goin' for ya'?"

"It's actually not as bad as I first thought it would be. I've had so much improvement these last few years that I don't even know where to start."

Scandinavia then smiled sadly. "You're so much like your sister Varyn."

The dirty blonde looked at the Nordic with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Both of you were fierce warriors before… but now you have both been pacified by that tyrannical Roman."

Varyn couldn't help but feel a slight sting from her words. "Hey now, Romulus isn't too bad. I mean not everything is perfect, and I do miss my complete freedom, but I'm glad I made the decision that I did. And besides, I'm only a client state of Rome, not like Gwyneth; I still have some autonomy."

The platinum blonde sighed and put her hands to her hips. "Ah whatever, it's not that big of a deal." She then scanned the town with her eyes. "Do you have any alcohol in this place? I need some beer right now, and it would fun to finally be able to drink with you now that you're grown up."

"Well, I'm not big on alcohol, but yes we can go get some. Follow me." He then took the platinum blonde's hand and led her to get them drinks, excited to be able to spend time getting caught back up with her.

Translations:

Bróðir: Old Norse for 'Brother'


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

-When in Rome, do as the Romans do-

115 A.D.

As Askroltia entered the humongous city, he was amazed.

Long wide streets filled with people ran in every direction. Vendors and shops were everywhere, selling things Varyn couldn't even identify. Large hill tops with lavish buildings could be seen in the distance. The famous Flavian Amphitheater (The Colosseum) that he had heard so much about towered above the nearby shops and houses. Varyn had never seen anything like this before in his life, much less even imagine that he would be here.

Suddenly, a young man broke him out of his trance and greeted him. The man turned out to be a slave who was sent to escort Varyn to Romulus himself. Luckily, the Celtic's Latin was well enough so that he could carry out a conversation with a native; thanks to Romulus sending a teacher to him.

When they reached the main forum, which was… rather immense, the slave pointed him towards a building in which he could find the Roman.

"Aren't you going to come in?" He asked, confused that he would just leave him here.

The slave bowed slightly. "No sir, I am sorry but I have other errands to do. I hope you find Rome to be a wonderful city though!"

And thus, the man departed, but not without the blonde giving him a golden coin to show his appreciation.

Askroltia then made his way to the building the slave had pointed out. When he entered, he saw Romulus talking to a few other wealthy looking men, all wearing the... togas that he had heard about.

He quietly waited for the Roman to be done, and when the men left, he approached the still unaware nation and tapped him on the shoulder.

Romulus quickly turned around and was shocked. "What?! Varyn?! No one told me you were already here! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He then looked the dirty blonde over, "Damn, are you as tall as me now?"

The blonde sighed, "Maybe I am. But Romulus, why did you call me here? It takes a long time to get from my homelands to Rome you know."

Romulus responded by wrapping his arm around the now almost just as tall blonde's shoulder and grinned. "Why to give you a most fantastic tour of my capital of course!" He then glanced behind Varyn. "You didn't bring that beast that you call a pet here did you?"

Askroltia folded his arms in annoyance. "No, of course not. And he's not a pet; he's a companion and my partner."

"Yeah, sure. But anyways I can't ask you your opinion of the city yet; for you have only seen less than a fraction of it! There is so much to show you today, so let's be off!" And so, he led the Celtic out into the bright Italian sunlight.

The first attraction that the bubbly Roman showed him was the main forum just outside. There you could listen to speeches, purchase slaves, watch parades, and buy anything and everything that the vast Roman Empire had to offer.

However, while walking through the extremely crowded markets, Varyn noticed various people staring at him, pointing sometimes, whispering to the person next to them, judging him.

He was a little bit uncomfortable at the attention, but decided to not be bothered by it. "I see that I am an usual sight here. Are they not used to such ruggedly handsome young men?" He cockily asked, running a hand through his hair.

Rome smiled and glanced at the still arrogant teen. "No, they are just not used to sickly pale skinned boys with straw hair and acne."

"I do not have acne!"

"Yes you do, just look in the mirror sometime."

"Nations can't even get ac-"

He was cut off as the dark haired Roman stopped at one of the vendors and picked up a small jug. "Hey, have you ever tried this stuff?"

"What is it?"

"Only the best of all Falernian wines! (famous Ancient Roman wine) This stuff is great! Want some?" He asked, opening it.

"Don't you have to pay for that?"

"Not really, the people in this city practically worship me." He then offered the jug over to the Celt. "I get tons of stuff for free all the time. Try some!"

Varyn gave it a slight sniff, only to wrinkle his nose in displeasure. "I don't know, I've never had wine before."

The Roman looked shocked. "What?! Gosh, you northerners with your beer and pants! We Romans practically live off this stuff! You need to try it!"

Varyn shrugged. "Meh, I'm not too big on alcohol, not even beer; but I'll have some."

However as the contents of the jug entered his mouth and slide down his throat, he felt a burning sensation and immediately spit the wine out.

"Ugh! That's disgusting!"

The Roman began to laugh at the sight and wiped his eyes from tears. "Oh man, you really can't handle alcohol can you?"

Varyn's face was extremely red from anger and embarrassment. "Shut up!"

*Le Time Skip*

"And here is Trajan's Column, telling the great story of how I gloriously conquered Dacia. It was just finished two years ago!" Romulus explained as they made their way throughout the city, stopping at various notable sights.

Varyn stared up at the tall spiraling column with pictures engraved into its sides. "Woaaahhh."

He then noticed a human sized hole at the base of it. "Is that a doorway?"

The Roman's eyes followed to where the Celtic teen was pointing. He then smiled and turned back to him. "Why yes it is! There is a staircase in there leading all the way to the top! Not afraid of heights now are you?"

Askroltia wanted to get a better view of the city, but didn't want to show the Roman his excitement; so he merely shrugged his shoulders. "No, let's go."

When they reached the top, Varyn was a little disappointed, the column was shorter than it appeared from ground level. But he couldn't complain, it was still a good vantage point of the city.

As he gazed out upon the huge city, the rooftops of thousands of houses below him, he was amazed.

"Great isn't it?" Romulus suddenly said, appearing behind the dirty blonde.

Varyn however, wasn't going to admit to the Roman that he was impressed. "Meh, not as good as the sights in my lands, but it's a decent view."

The older man smirked. "Whatever, I know you're amazed by it. Anyways, how's it going with Scandinavia?"

Varyn his turned head to look at the Roman. "Astrid? What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, I know you have something going on with her; Britannia tells me that you two hang out all the time now. You've been childhood friends with her, plus she is a rather attractive woman, no? Don't tell me that you don't like her."

The Celt rested his head in his hands as he leaned on the railing of the column. "Why does it matter? It's not like I'd tell you anyways."

"Aw don't be like that; you can confide in me! I mean," Romulus then gestured to himself with his hand, "I am the most romantic of all the nations. Just look at all the women I have; you'd do well to look to me for relationship advice."

Askroltia rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and they say I'm the one with a big ego."

"Hey, I may be a little self centered, but you can't deny the truth!" He then lightly poked the teen with his elbow. "So if you ever need any help with the ladies, just let me know!"

"Nah, I think I'll be good on my own. I can handle this myself thank you "

The Roman's eyes then perked up. "Oh so you have plans?" He then leaned into the Celt. "So you do like her."

"Shut up."

"H-hm, very intriguing. You'll have to let me know how it works out with you two."

"Whatever, let's go. I'm sure there is still plenty to see in your 'magnificent' city."

"Hey, my city is magnificent! You'll be saying it for real when we are done! Just be glad that I'm giving you a free tour! Not that many people get this sort of special treatment you know!"

The Celt sighed. "Whatever. I'll meet you at the bottom." And thus, he started his decent down.

*Le Time Skip*

The next day, after witnessing many different sites and attractions, Romulus finally brought Varyn to see a real gladiator game to culminate the day.

While in their seats, Romulus noticed Varyn wrinkling his face in disapproval when one of the gladiators was killed.

"What's wrong? Are you not entertained?"

The dirty blonde kept his gaze on the scene below. "If your people love the sight of bloodshed so much, why don't they come watch a real battle? Then maybe then they will wipe these smiles off their faces and cease their cheers."

"Oh you're no fun Varyn, just enjoy the senseless slaughter and violence!" The Roman cheered.

After a while though, Askroltia seemed to have moved on, and didn't seem so disturbed with the fighting going on in the sands below. But when a lion was brought out and eventually killed, the boy's face again curled in disgust.

So as not to lose his interest, the Roman decided to distract him with facts about the building . "You know, we opened this amphitheater about thirty years ago, and ever since then the people have flocked to it! Sometimes we even flood it and have sea battle reenactments!"

Varyn's face seemed to lighten up at this. "Really? Now that actually sounds… enjoyable."

Romulus smiled, his plan was working.

*Le Time Skip*

By the end of the second day, after exiting the Pantheon, the two came into a street corner as the sun was setting in the large city.

Rome then turned to Varyn and smiled. "So, what do you think? Is the great city of Rome all you imagined? Did it shock you with its beauty and splendour?

To be honest, the Askroltian was amazed. He had never before an experience like this before and had enjoyed his time. However, he wasn't going to let the Roman know that, so he simply gave a blank expression and crossed his arms.

"More like with its clamour and rudeness. Sorry to say this Romulus, but I am not too amazed at your capital."

The Roman was shocked. "What?! How can you deny that is it the most wonderful city in the world?! The arches, the forums, the fountains, the spectacular Colosseum, the awe striking Pantheon, the huge markets where one can buy anything he desires, the great many sites I have shown you today; how can you not be impressed?"

Varyn sighed before answering. "Romulus, why did you bring me here? Why are you showing me all these things?"

"What? I can't treat my subjects well and give them a grand tour of my wonderful city?"

"I know that is not the case. Now tell me, why did you really call me to come to Rome?"

Romulus sighed. "Fine, you want to know the truth? I brought you here to be amazed, to be captivated by my magnificent capital and to be envious. I was hoping that these sights would fill you with the desire for this in your homeland."

"Why? I do not want that."

"Because, I want you to become an official province of the empire."

"No."

"Varyn, please let me try an-"

The dark haired man tried to speak but was cut off by the late teen. "I'm not hearing it Romulus. I already betrayed my people once by becoming your vassal; I will not do it again by submitting further to you. I am happy the way I am right now and don't want anymore change."

"But how can you say that? You could be so much better off! You can't deny that your lands have greatly prospered under my influence. Already you are engaging in trade with people that you have never even heard of before! We have brought peace and unity to your people, you are already identifying as one group! Roads have been paved, towns brought up, great works of infrastructure built; this will only improve with my full control over you. And besides, it's not like your people will be persecuted, you will eventually assimilate, and you know that all religious practices are allowed in the empire; well except Christianity, but that doesn't pertain to you. So what do you have to lose Varyn? Your pride?"

"Well…" He started.

"That's right, you can't think of anything." Romulus then got closer to the dirty blonde and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Please Varyn, I don't really need your permission to do this, but it would be easier if I had your willingness."

After being silent for a while and giving much consideration, Varyn responded. "Fine, I'll give it some thought when I get home and tell you my answer after then, so please, don't expect me to make such an important decision right this moment."

The Roman smiled lightly and sighed again. "No problem, that's perfectly fine; and to be honest, more than I expected to get out of you." He then proceeded to clap the Celt on the back. "Thanks Varyn."

After their agreement, the two started to head back to Rome's house to stay the night, but as they were walking in a street, Rome suddenly halted besides a building whose Latin name Varyn couldn't make out. He then looked out to the horizon at the almost nighttime sky.

"Dammit, they should be here by now."

The late teen was thoroughly confused. "What? What are you talking about?"

Almost as if on cue, three… very attractive women came into view from around the street corner and approached the two men.

The Celt immediately got a bad feeling from the women and tried to nervously greet them. "Um… salvete."

The woman with the darkest hair who Varyn assumed to be their leader came closer and he noticed her rather… thin and revealing clothing.

"Hello there darling, care to join us for some… 'activities'?"

The dirty blonde immediately knew what was happening, and didn't want any part of it.

"Uh, you mean the two of us? No thanks… I'm uh… rather inexperienced…"

But the Celtic was surprised when he was shoved from behind into the group of ladies by a certain man.

"Romulus? What's the meaning of this?"

The Roman laughed at the embarrassed teenager. "Oh Varyn, you've been a good boy and put up with all my crap these past days, you deserve this. I've had my fair share of women in my times; why don't you enjoy yourself?"

By now, the grey eyed teen was extremely flustered. "What?! Why would you do this?!"

"Don't be like that Varyn, these are the some of the best ladies you can find in this city! I would know. So just relax and have a good time!"

The women then started to caress him. "Don't worry dear, it'll be fun. Besides, I've never been with a northerner before, so it will be a new experience for the both of us."

And then, the women were dragging the young Celtic into their building for the night. "Nooo! Wait! This isn't how I wanted to lose my virginity!" He shouted in vain.

The lead prostitute smiled and leaned into him. "Oh come on, Varyn was it? We don't bite." She then whispered in his ear. "Unless you want us to." And continued pulling him away.

However before he was dragged through the door, Varyn noticed Romulus wink at him and wave.

"Have fun kiddo! I'll pick you up in the morning!"

"Fuck you Romulus!" He managed to let out before being taken away for the rest of the night.

Translations:

Salvete: Latin for: 'hello' but in reference that you are talking to multiple people


	20. Chapter 20

Author's note: the character Burgundy in this story only represents the Duchy of Burgundy most well known in the 1400's; not the Kingdom of Burgundy or the Burgundian tribes. Also, the Dynasty that rules over Reikland in this chapter and for most of its history is 'alf Loizinger'

Chapter 20

-A Proposed Alliance-

1365 A.D.

Tråvlo, Reikland

As Varyn followed the young adult who was his king and boss through the hallways of the castle, he tried to persuade him to break out of the passive nature that the Reikish people had adopted.

"Karl, I ask you to listen to me. With the Black Death now a thing of the past, we must start anticipating the resuming of things to normal. Wars are going to start again much like the one between the French and the English crowns, and frankly, we have no alliances; if we are planning to mark our claim on the rest of Europe, we must find friends. Our conquest of East Frisia and Oldenburg was a good start before all hell broke loose, but we cannot do this alone."

Varyn really wanted to put the past behind him. The last few decades or so had been horrible; for one of the first times in his life, Reikland had been sick. And not just like a cold that came when his nation was in the dumps, but an agonizing pestilence that had spread among his fellow countries, infecting everyone with horrible flu like symptoms. Everyone except Poland… strangely enough.

"What about the Teutonic Order? We are allied to them." Karl asked, interrupting Varyn's thinking.

"You know as well as I do that they cannot join any wars other than their own. They can only supply us with mercenaries, and that is not enough."

Karl grimaced. "Why are we even allied to them? They've done their duty. The only pagans left in the Baltics and all of Europe are the Lithuanians, and with their relation with Poland, it's only a matter of time before they become Christian."

The Nordic lightly slapped the back of his head in annoyance. "Because you naïve brat, it was my idea to have them stationed there in the first place, and our kingdom has been their greatest supporter ever since then. Plus, they provide a safe region to trade with our merchants, _and_ they give us a discount on their mercenaries, which while not being enough to help us too much in a war, are highly useful. But despite all that, we need allies. _Real_ allies."

The young king yawned as they walked through the castle walls, an evening light shining in through the large windows that were frequently placed in the side of the hallway. "Varyn, I'm really tired today, but I guess you do have a point; can we wait until tomorrow to talk more?"

The dirty blonde however would not accept his boss to be so lazy. "No! You are always tired! Your father dying while you were a child might have earned you the pity of others, but I will not accept you to slack off on your kingly duties. If you feel the need to, splash some cold water onto your face; you have put these matters off for too long, we are going to discuss this right here and now. Call your advisors here!"

"Ugh, fine." And so, he slumped off to adjourn the meeting.

 _*Le Time Skip*_

As the advisors of the king gathered around his throne, they began to discuss the matter of foreign diplomacy.

"Varyn, you said that we should talk about making alliances, do you have anything in mind?"

As he was called upon, the Nordic stood and addressed the rest of the people in the room. "Yes, I do. As we all know, the English and French are currently fighting over the Duchy of Brittany, but they will soon resume their main fighting shortly. Therefore I propose that we get involved in their wars. For while the English are distracted, we might be able to disrupt their overwhelming dominance in the British Isles."

"And why would we want to do that?" One advisor asked.

"Well to pave the way for a full out Reikish invasion of the island of course! Our occasional pirating raids on the English coastline are not enough, and the time for Reikland's passive nature to be abandoned is now if we want to be taken seriously by our rivals. If we are to invade Britain, then we cannot have their people unified, so I propose that we ally ourselves with the King of Scotland, and the Welsh people, our Celtic brothers in the west who hate the English as much as we do. We could support the independence of the Welsh, which has been rising in popularity among their people recently, and help maintain the Scottish Crown's newly gained independence. I am already friends with Allistor, so it should be easy to get him to join us.

King Karl clapped his hands together in joy. "Okay then! Matter settled! We will send diplomats to the Scottish and the Welsh! Meeting closed!" And he began to leave the room.

Varyn pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "No we are not done just yet!"

Karl pouted and slumped back into his throne. "What is it?"

"I don't want the French to be the complete victors of this war, we should also ally with someone that will disrupt Francis's power; preferably in continental Europe."

This time a different advisor spoke up. "But who? The Castilians and Aragonese are at each other's throats constantly and would be too busy to fight the French, and we can't ally the Holy Roman Emperor, as we are now practically lifelong enemies ever since our conquest of Oldenburg. There are no significant powers in the Low Countries that would be beneficial to us and the Scandinavian kingdoms are completely out of the question."

"What about the Duchy of Burgundy?" One man said.

Varyn was confused. "Why would they be helpful to us? Isn't the new Duke the son of the French King? He'll be loyal to King John."

The same man then stood up. "Yes, but it would be interesting to see which side Duke Philip chooses in the oncoming conflicts of the French and English, he could be rather ambitious with our support. And although he may be loyal to King, his descendants, with heightened power due to our support, could eventually rival the crown itself! Plus, I hear that the representation of the Duchy is a rather attractive woman, maybe that would perk your interest Varyn."

The Celt blushed slightly at the comment, but he decided to use the fact to his advantage. "Your right, allying ourselves to a personal vassal of the French King would definitely piss off Francis, and her being a woman would certainly make things easier. You'll see, I will flatter her and make her swoon over my charm!" He exclaimed confidently, running his hand through his wavy hair.

Karl seemed amused by this. "Yeah, good luck with that. I'm counting on you to bring us allies Varyn. Meeting closed, whether you like it or not."

The dirty blonde waved him off and began to exit. "No, no, you're fine. I need to start preparing for our meeting! First impressions are everything you know!" And thus, he ran off.

 _A Few Months Later_

Varyn was ready, he had sent a letter to Duke Philip to propose a meeting between the two states, and he had gladly accepted. Probably ecstatic that such a prestigious kingdom like Reikland had decided to even want to speak to him. And so, the Nordic was in the capital of Dijon, about to meet the Duke himself and the representation of the Duchy, whose name he had found out was Valérie.

Before he entered the courtroom, he fixed his hair one last time and tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his clothing. Taking a deep breath he opened the large door to the room and entered, revealing a huge court which was stunningly lavish, he was also shocked by the sight of a beautiful woman sitting next to the throne of the Duke.

 _That must be Valérie_

As he approached the throne to where Duke Philip was sitting, he noticed that the woman was a blonde, as but he couldn't really tell because with her hair mostly covered.

However, he could not focus on the woman right now. He was a diplomat on a mission, not a suitor looking to claim this girl as his wife.

When close enough, he bent on one knee and bowed his head towards the Duke. Despite his status being much higher, he learned that it was always good to stroke a person's ego just slightly to get on their good side.

"Your excellence, it is an honour to be in your presence. I am Varyn Fjøsson, representation of Reikland, and personal diplomat to King Karl alf Loizinger himself."

The people in the courtroom probably couldn't tell, but the Celtic was extremely nervous. His fluency in French was rather nonexistent, and he hoped that his accent wasn't too strong to make him unintelligible.

The young duke smiled, and at this, Varyn sighed, knowing that he had understood him.

"Please Mr. Fjøsson, the pleasure is all mine. I must say that I was shocked to hear about receiving a letter from your delegation, and even more, a proposal to open friendship between us."

"Well, with the plague finally behind us, we have decided to seek friends in this changed world we live in."

Philip nodded slightly. "A good idea. And forgive me for being a little skeptical, but why me? Surely there are more powerful and prestigious rulers than I that you could turn to?"

Suddenly, a dark brunette woman entered the room, but did not appear important, so he ignored her, and smiled. "Ah, that's where you are wrong Sir. The only friends we have are the Scottish and the Teutons. Not huge contenders on the world stage I must admit. The Scandinavian Kingdoms all hate my people, and the feeling is mutual, the Holy Roman Emperor is the same, and I doubt anyone in the Low Countries would benefit me." He then decided to speak next words carefully, so as to not to make the Duke get the wrong idea. "But for some reason, and I don't know why, I have feeling that you and your descendants are destined for greatness. Your position in Europe is strategic, and it would be foolish to not take advantage of that."

The brown haired Duke raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "What are you implying?"

Varyn shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing much; just friendship, perhaps an alliance." He then quickly changed the subject to not give the Duke time to consider what he just said. This time when he spoke, it was directly to the blonde woman. "And I'm sorry, but I don't think we were properly introduced. You must be the esteemed Valérie Rûchout."

He actually didn't know what the woman's reputation was or how people viewed, but he guessed that it would be polite to address her this way.

He then approached her and bent down on one knee again. "I was surprised that you hadn't said anything so far, I was hoping that I would hear a pretty voice to match your face." The girl stared at him, surprise written on her face. Varyn noticed she had cerulean blue eyes.

 _How cute…_

Reikland continued and took her hand into his. "I hope we can establish a friendly relationship between our two states." And then he gently kissed her hand.

This generated an atmosphere of shock in the room.

 _What's wrong?_ He thought.

 _Was I too forward? I thought this would be custom to do. Are their traditions different here?_

Varyn let go of the girl's hand who was now blushing and stuttering. " _M-Monsieur, vous vous t-trompez."_

Reikland could understand most of peoples' French, but this girl's accent combined with the stutter made him not able to understand what she said.

" _Avuík?_ " He asked to himself.

He had no idea what the commotion was for, but his curiosity was soon answered. The brunette woman who Varyn recognized as the one who entered the courtroom while he was talking approached him.

As she drew near, he questioned her, still down on one knee. "I'm sorry, but there seems to be a mistake, who are y-"

He didn't get to finish as he was cut off by the woman's open palm colliding with his cheek.

A loud smacking sound was heard, and an immediate stinging sensation immediately arose from the spot where he was slapped.

Reikland grasped his face instinctively in pain and stared at the woman in anger. However, when his eyes met hers, he felt a cold shiver run up his spine.

The brunette was staring right back at him with a fierce intensity, drilling holes through his skull with her piercing gaze. "Yes, you are mistaken, _I_ am Valérie Rûchout."

The dirty blonde's eyes widened as he realized what he had done. He now took in the woman in front of him more. When he first saw her, he didn't notice anything unique, but now up and close, he could tell that she was rather attractive; perhaps not beautiful, but still a pretty sight. Her dark brunette hair was slightly curly like his own, and her eyes were a humble hazel. She looked rather slender, but the most notable feature was that she was tall; not as nearly as tall as the Nordic, but still tall.

Overall she would have made a well-rounded woman appearance wise, but it was ruined by one thing: her expression.

Maybe it was just towards him, or maybe this was how she naturally looked (he had just met her after all), but there was a furious scowl imprinted on the French girl's face that was alarmingly directed towards him. He again noticed her flaming eyes that seemed to want to watch him suffer and burn.

In the least, she was absolutely terrifying.

However, he could not be challenged by this woman, and thus he kept his composure (or at least attempted to) and apologized, but he had to put this girl in her place.

He withdrew his hand from his now red cheek and bowed slightly, however he then looked at her sternly. "Madame, I sincerely apologize, I was mistaken. But did that honestly justify slapping a diplomat of a greater power who is seeking friendship with your nation? Surely as a representation of your people, you should know the basics of diplomacy."

Valérie was visibly taken aback by this and gritted her teeth at the taller man. She was obviously irritated by him.

Perhaps he had gone too far, he _had_ just insulted her indirectly in front of the entire court and the Duke himself. But what he saw was a temperamental girl who often got what she wanted, and it was about time she was told off.

What she said next left him speechless instead.

"You would think as the representation of your nation and the king's personal diplomat, that you would spend the effort to actually find out what another nation's representation actually looked like instead of coming in here with all the arrogance in the world and kissing the Duke's concubine's hand like an obnoxious suitor looking to marry."

Varyn felt like he had been slapped again. He had no comeback for her and simply returned her scowl.

The brunette smirked and turned back towards her seat which he noticed had been empty for this entire time.

It was his turn to grit his teeth.

 _This bitch…_

The already silent courtroom remained so as the 'Esteemed Valérie Rûchout' took her seat. Reikland took this opportunity to apologize to the concubine he had mistaken for as Burgundy.

He sighed and bowed towards her.

 _"Je suis sincèrement désolé. S'il vous plaît pardonne-moi madame."_

He tried to speak with a French accent this time to make it easier for her to understand, as she had such a heavy one herself.

The blonde girl smiled timidly and nodded her head in acceptance of his apology.

Duke Philip however still seemed weirded out by what had happened between the two nations and decided to break the newly ensuing silence.

"Anyways, Mr. Fjøsson, you spoke of the possibility of an alliance? I'm sure you're aware that I am a vassal under the French crown?"

"Ah yes, an alliance. I am indeed aware of your position with King John, however, that does not mean that we cannot support one another right?"

The Duke looked puzzled. "I guess not…"

Suddenly, one of his advisors rose up. " _Monsieur_ , what this man is suggesting is treason! To aid a foreign power is unthinkable!"

Philip may be young, but he certainly seemed to know how to fit his role as ruler. " _Monsieur Dartois_ , might you recall who makes the decisions in this realm? I do not agree with you, the Reikish are not any enemies of King John, what would be the harm? And if there is a problem, might I remind you that I am his son?"

The advisor slowly sat down, clearly embarrassed, but also angered at being so.

The Duke nodded with his authority being obeyed, and then turned to the Nordic man and smiled warmly. "And so Mr. Fjøsson, I must admit I am intrigued at your proposal."

Varyn returned the smile. "I thought you might be, but just in case you have any doubt left in your mind…"

Reikland turned towards the two bodyguards he had brought with him into courtroom and gave them an order.

" _Far ín den krastennei!"_

And with that, they both exited the courtroom.

Duke Philip looked confusedly at him when he spoke in his native tongue. Varyn noticed this and reassured him with another smile.

"They will be back in just one moment."

About a minute later, the guards returned, only this time with two more behind them, and all carrying large chests.

"Put them there." He pointed.

When they set them down in front of the throne of the Duke, he eyed them with suspicion.

"What's inside?" He asked.

Varyn for the third time smiled. "Look for yourself." And thus opened each of the four chests one by one, revealing golden and silver coins, golden candelabrums, golden jewelry, golden headpieces, golden chalices… there was a lot of gold to say the least.

As the Duke's eyes widened, the dirty blonde grinned.

 _Now, he's really intrigued_

Philip seemed to stumble over his words as he took in the sight of the massive amount of wealth in front of him.

"W-Where did-did you get all o-of this? Why are y-you giving it to me?"

"As a sign of friendship of course! This is only a tiny fraction of the massive amounts of gold and silver I can supply from the vast mines of Reikland!"

It was true, Reikland was known for its many mineral deposits and rich mines, it being a very mountainous country after all, however most of the gold in these chests were actually from the English coastline which he often raided.

 _No way in hell I'm giving that much of my money to a person who might not even accept my alliance._

Hopefully, he didn't recognize that most of the coins had words written in English, but he probably wouldn't. Not many outside of the British Isles could speak, or even less read the language. And Reikish and English were close enough to where anyone might mistake the written words of the two at a quick glance.

"As you can see, an alliance with the Reikish can be rather… profitable. And besides, I'm not asking you to turn against your father; we have no quarrel with the King. In fact, we hate the English scum just as much as you!"

The Duke appeared like he was about to speak when Valérie quickly jumped up.

"My lord, I would not advise this! Monsieur Dartois is right! Any dealing with a foreign power, even one that doesn't have current hostilities towards the crown, could be seen as treason! It does not matter that you are the son of the king! In fact, because you are the fourth son, he may even see this as you trying to undermine him! And plus, this man," she pointed at Varyn, "screams of arrogance! You do not know what he could be planning!"

The grey eyed nation scoffed. "My lady, I assure you, there are no ulterior motives to this proposal. I am not even asking for you to make this an official alliance just yet. Just know that King Karl intends to sow good relations with possible future powers in Europe, and you should be the least bit grateful that he thought of you. Duke Philip," he addressed the young man, "I am not demanding a response from you at this moment, however keep in mind this offer, as we will expect an answer sometime in the future. Know that if the Duchy of Burgundy is ever in need of assistance, my Kingdom will be willing to help, and we hope that one day, if we need it, you might be inclined to do the same."

Philip nodded his head in agreement. "Thank you, Mr. Fjøsson, I will consider it. You will get an answer shortly, and I will say that you can keep your hopes up. And thank you again for the… gold and silver you have given us, I will put this to good use."

Varyn smirked and bowed. "I am honoured my lord, and there's plenty of where that came from." He said, indicating the chests.

"Now I would love to stay and negotiate for longer, but I must bid you adieu, for there are other matters I must attend." He bowed again and waved at Duke. "Farewell, I hope this is the start of a great relationship between our states. And…" he looked at the brunette who was still scowling at his. "Lady Rûchout, it was a delight to get to meet you, I hope we will see each other more in future."

He actually didn't, but it was the polite thing to say, and it was fun to see her then raise her nose up at him all snobbishly. It was kind of cute really.

 _Maybe I do want to see her again…_

And thus, he left the courtroom with his spirits high.

 _*Another few months later*_

Reikland smiled as he broke the seal and read the contents of the letter from Duke Philip.

He was in fact, going to see Valérie quite frequently now.

He was happy, but also scared by this fact. He felt that this woman would be a pain in his side for a long time.

Translations:

 _Avuík_ – Reikish for 'Excuse me?' or 'Pardon?'

 _Far ín den krastennei!_ – Reikish for 'Bring in the chests!'

 _M-Monsieur, vous vous t-trompez_ – French for 'Sir, you are mistaken'

 _Je suis sincèrement désolé. S'il vous plaît pardonne-moi madame_ – French for 'I am sincerely sorry. Please forgive me miss.'


	21. Chapter 21

Author's note: Chile and Argentina are going to be introduced as minor characters in this story, so understand that I'm not going to put in too much effort in creating these oc's that have little influence on the story, so if they are inaccurate I'm sorry

Chapter 21

-First Meeting Back-

September, 2015

Paris, France

Reikland sighed as he stared at the conference building. "I imagine there's going to be a lot more nations here than there were at the party?"

Prussia nodded and led him into the building. "Yeah, a lot more. The people you met at the party are just a handful of who you're going to meet here. But try not to get overwhelmed."

The dirty blonde scoffed. "Me? Overwhelmed? I'm offended you think that way. I can handle meeting a few new people."

Julia smiled as the Nordic seemed to be regaining his old confidence that he was known for.

As they entered, Varyn was taken aback by how crowded it was. There were so many new faces that he didn't know where to begin. Luckily, Julia remained by his side and introduced him to the various new nations such as Spain's sister Portugal (who Prussia told him once had a relationship with The Netherlands), Greece, Russia and his sisters, Sweden (Varyn was again irritated to meet two more nations that were taller than him), Finland (whose appearance and personality was much different than he expected), Iceland, Switzerland and his sister Liechtenstein, the Baltics, Poland, Turkey (again taller and for some reason he felt a disliking to), Egypt, and others. He met with some of the nations he already knew, but despite his earlier claim, was nervous to talk to them all, with them knowing almost everything about him but he being clueless to his relationships with them.

When all was said and done, and the nations began to take their seats, Varyn leaned close to the albino.

"Hey Julia?"

"Yes _liebe_?"

"Are there any other dissolved nations that come to these meetings, or is it just you?"

The Prussian thought for a moment before responding. "Well, there actually aren't that many us, as we mostly represent the people and cultures of our land, so we stay the same even if our government changes. But yes, every once in awhile I think Catalonia comes with her brother and sister. Tibet has tried to come a couple times but China usually doesn't let him. Sometimes my other siblings come if the meetings are in Germany, and even I don't always come to all the meetings."

"Catalonia? Was she ever a country?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry, you don't remember her. Sofia represents Catalonia and previously the Kingdom of Aragon. She's siblings with Spain and Portugal, however she was married to Antonio for a while."

Reikland was surprised by that statement. "Wow, incest much?"

"Hardly, it was a forced marriage by their bosses and Sofia hates him, so I doubt they ever did anything. But…" the Prussian trailed off, looking around the room, "I don't see her now, so she's probably not here. Guess you'll have to meet her some other time. Oh and I almost forgot, there's also Xavier, he represents the Basque Country and previously the Kingdom of Navarre. He's kind of a hermit so it will probably be a while before you meet him... even I've only seen him like a handful of times since I've been alive."

As the last of the nations sat down, Varyn scanned the room and noticed an absence.

"Where is Canada?"

Prussia then also scanned the room in search of the Northern country, but to no avail. "I don't know; It's strange, I usually don't seem him at these events."

Varyn didn't think too hard on the matter and was beginning to mentally prepare for the meeting which he was sure to be confused by. However while doing so, a large group of dark haired and tanned people came into the room.

One man pushed himself to the front of the group to address the others in the room.

"Hey guys! Sorry we're late! We decided to stay at the same hotel and carpool over, but there was some serious traffic coming here!"

Varyn looked back at Julia in confusion.

She met his eyes and began to explain.

"Those are the Central and South Americans. They don't come that often, but when they do, they _all_ come."

"The one who just shouted was Brazil, he's pretty energetic."

He nodded at this in understanding and looked back at the now dispersing group.

Suddenly, one of the nations noticed Reikland and Prussia and came over to where they were sitting, motioning for another man to join him along the way, which he did in reluctance. The first man was smiling happily at the two and was of a lighter complexion than the others with light brown curly hair. The second man was shorter and tanner with darker hair and looked like he didn't want to be at the meeting at all.

When they were close enough, the first man again smiled at Reikland.

"Hey Varyn! Long time no see! I don't reckon you recognize us do you?"

The dirty blonde smiled and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry pals, but i'd be lying if I said I did."

"Ah it's alright, can't expect you to after what happened. But I am Argentina, at your service," he said, bowing sarcastically.

 _I already like this guy_

"And this is Chile." He said, gesturing to the man standing next to him, averting their eyes.

Argentina then leaned into the two and whispered softly. " _He's a little quiet._ "

This seemed to get the slightly darker skinned dude's attention. "I'm not quite you bastard, I just didn't see the need to speak."

Varyn was still a bit confused about the two.

"So are you guys… brothers or something?"

"Honestly, with our situation and history of growing up together, it's hard to know who's related or not. That's why I like to treat everyone like my sibling!" He then wrapped his arm around the shorter man's shoulder. "It's like we're one big and happy family!"

"Get off of me."

"Oh come on! We're best of friends!"

"No we aren't, we hate each other. And I said get off me."

"Don't be like that Chile!"

Varyn then leaned into Julia while the two were arguing. "I can definitely see the Italian influence in him."

Suddenly, the Argentinian let go of his friend. "Oh yeah! I forgot to mention our relationship! You colonized both of our southern lands! The Spanish weren't used to the colder and more mountainous terrain, so they left some of our lands alone. But your people colonized the whole southern tip of South America, as they were more accustomed to the climate. In fact, with your colony there, and your colony in Northern Canada, you practically made the America's a giant Reikish sandwich!" The man chuckled, but when he noticed that no one else was laughing, he quickly stopped.

"Eh… tough crowd… so anyways, both Chile and I are essentially part Spanish and part Reikish; so if I had to consider anyone as my brother, it would have to be Chile here! Well, besides Uruguay. But I happen to have that additional suave Italian flare." He said, flicking his hair back.

The Chilean then smirked slightly. "Yeah, makes you even more of a fag."

"Hey! Not cool dude!" Argentina grabbed the shorter man by the collar and began to shake him.

Varyn and Julia chuckled at the petty arguing of the two.

" _Man, they do seem like brothers_." He whispered towards the woman.

" _Definitely_." She responded.

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind.

"Hey," he said, interrupting the two South Americans, "what are your human names? I don't want to just refer to you guys as Argentina and Chile."

Argentina let go of Chile's collar and beamed at the other two nations. "Oh, my! I forgot! Deepest apologies Varyn! I am Mártin and Chile is Manuel! And yes, please use our human names, it would be a little weird if you didn't!"

As the Nordic slowly nodded in understanding, Mártin clapped the taller nation on the shoulder. "Anyways, it was good to catch back up with you! Let's keep in contact alright?"

Varyn grinned back at the man and nodded with agreement. "Certainly, now you get back to your real friends alright?"

Argentina laughed softly. "Hey, don't sell yourself short, we've been good friends throughout the times. But yes, we'll get out of your hair now." He then draped an arm around a very irritated Manuel's neck and dragged him forcefully away. "Let's go buddy!"

As Varyn and Julia waved goodbye, a loud "Get your hands off of me!" was heard.

When the two returned to their seats however, the meeting was about to begin, and Varyn prepared himself to be thoroughly confused.

 _*Le time skip*_

The main part of the meeting passed rather uneventfully, with most of the matters passing over the dirty blonde's head, and as it progressed further, he got more and more bored. This must have been noticed however by the albino next to him.

"Hey, how you holding up?" She poked his arm.

He turned slightly to look at her. "Okay, I guess. I just don't understand everything that you guys are talking about."

Prussia shrugged. "Eh, you'll understand more with time, when we get home, I can teach you more stuff though."

Varyn sighed. "Thanks."

He had a lot to catch up on it appeared.

The Celtic directed his attention back to the conversation going on until his thoughts were interrupted by the woman to his right.

"Jilbird, stop shuffling around on my head. It's uncomfortable." She whispered annoyingly at the small yellow chick on top of her head.

As she spoke these words however, an earlier memory resurfaced in Varyn's mind and he leaned towards the nation.

"Hey Julia, I just remembered that I had a question for you."

"Yeah? What is it?" She asked simply, but as she turned to look at him, he was taken aback. He didn't know why he had never noticed it before, but there was a look innocence and curiosity on the Prussian's face; together with her cute violet eyes and the small bird on her head, it gave her the appearance of such kindheartedness and benevolence that the dirty blonde sat motionless, staring at the woman, any thoughts erased from his mind and awestruck that he was lucky enough to have ever gotten her as his own.

But Julia seemed to be a little weirded out by his gaze staring at her and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Uh, Varyn? You okay?"

Reikland was snapped out of his trance and reddened embarrassingly. But he immediately tried to mask this by confidently running his hand through his hair. "Sorry _älsk_ , just too stunned by your beauty."

Prussia blushed slightly and grinned. "And? Your question?"

"Uh, oh yeah. Well it was about Värjö and the animals we have."

She sighed as he still hadn't asked the question. "Aaaaaaand?"

"Well… can we communicate with them? I mean, like do they understand us when we speak to them?"

The albino scoffed. "That's your question? You made it sound like it was going to be a lot more serious."

Varyn frowned slightly at this, so she quickly continued.

"But anyways, yes we can; sort of. It's less that we can literally talk to them, but more like a general psychic understanding between us. They can understand some words, read body language, and detect tone of voice like normal animals, but there is also another deeper mental level to it because of our bonds together." But as she explained this, Julia realized it made less and less sense. "Don't ask me to explain it in depth, I don't know everything about it."

"No, no, that's fine. I think I understand it better. It's just…" he looked for the word.

"Peculiar?" She asked.

Varyn snapped his fingers at her and smiled. "Exactly."

Suddenly though, their quiet conversation was interrupted by Norway, who was sitting nearby. He didn't know which was stranger, that the man's cross shaped hair clip began ringing, or that he then took it off and began to speak quietly into it.

The Nordic man then excused himself and left the room abruptly.

When he exited, Reikland looked confusedly at the Prussian for an explanation; one eyebrow raised.

When she noticed him, she understood the question developing in his mind. "His hair clip is actually a tiny phone. Don't ask me how or why."

"Wait, but I remember him having that in one of my memories from World War One, it wasn't like that back then was it?"

"No, I think he recently replaced it in the early 2000's."

There was a brief pause as he pondered over what he just learned. "You know, you guys are all really weird."

Prussia rolled her eyes. "Var, I don't want to hear that from _you_."

He scoffed. "Me? Weird? You're quite mistaken _älsk_ , for let it be known that Varyn Fjøsson is a solemn man."

She struggled not to smile and sighed.

"What? Don't believe me? Here, I'll prove how serious I am."

He then turned to Chile, who happened to be sitting next to Reikland.

"Hey Chile, would you say that it's a bit chilly in here?"

He didn't even look at him. "Varyn I will punch you in the throat."

The Celt snapped some finger guns at the shorter man. "Duly noted."

When he turned back around, Julia was face-palming with maximum effort.

"Varyn… you're so cringey."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

 _*Le time skip*_

With the conference all said and done, and Reikland none the wiser, the nations began to rise from their seats and take the materials they brought with them.

Varyn suddenly felt a nudge at his side at turned to see Julia next to him.

"Hey, I need to talk to France and Spain for a second; don't run off now okay?"

"Gosh, what are you, my mother?"

"Considering you're almost triple my age, I don't see how that would work." She smiled while saying this and pinched him lightly before walking away.

Now standing by himself, Varyn felt the need to talk to someone else to pass the time. He scanned the room until his eyes rested upon Hungary, and a question he had been wondering about came back to him.

As he made his way to her, the brunette noticed his approach and smiled at him.

"What can I do for you Varyn?"

"Uh, hey Elizaveta, I just had a question from a little while ago."

She nodded her head. "Go on."

"Well, it was about when we were at the party, and you said that it might be better if I didn't remember what happened between us. I was just wondering… did something bad happen? Were we not good friends?"

Hungary sighed and put her hands to her hips. "Huh, I guess you picked up on that didn't you? You really are observant. But yes, I guess you deserve an explanation." She motioned for him to take a seat.

"Will it take a while?"

"No, I'd just rather sit and talk than stand."

When seated, Varyn looked towards the woman in front of him, ready for what she had to tell him. "So I guess it's story time?"

Elizaveta gave him a weak grin. "Yeah, it's story time. Now hush up and listen."

The Nordic leaned closer in anticipation as he was finally going to be answered.

"So, basically, a long time ago we courted each other… or dated, in modern terms."

He looked at her in confusion. "What? When?"

"It was just before the first crusade. The Kingdom of Reikland, which was planning an invasion on England, but had to cancel it, was the first to reach Hungary because your armies were already amassed and ready due to the previously planned invasion. You arrived in Hungary much earlier than the other armies, and not wanting to be a burden upon me, you set your soldiers to help the king do anything. You had them help rebuild infrastructure, guard roads, help peasants with day-to-day lives, convert some of the still pagans in the lands to Christianity, and when the peasant crusading armies start to pillage my lands, you ordered your troops to stop them. I was very grateful for your aid and because I was young and easily affected by emotion, I began to like you. You on the other hand, I remember said that you admired my beauty and skill in fighting. And so in the meantime while you waited for the other crusading armies to arrive, we spent a lot of time together and eventually hit it off and become very... intimate with one another."

Varyn felt weird having someone describe a part of his life that he couldn't remember, even if it was almost a thousand years ago. "So what happened next?" he asked, intrigued by the story.

Hungary shrugged. "We broke apart. After the other armies of Europe arrived, you had to leave Hungary to go to the holy lands, and we didn't see each other for many years. Our relationship never recovered, and for a while we were awkward around each other."

Varyn was taken aback. He didn't know what to say.

"Man... I feel like a jerk for doing that."

She shrugged again. "It's okay. It was awhile ago like I said. And we were both embarrassed about it afterwards; I was a young and naïve girl with fantasies of shining princes, and you felt that you abused my young age and also that you used me as a substitute for Scandinavia. But we eventually sorted things out and became great friends over the years. In fact, you're almost as good of a friend to me as Poland, and that's saying a lot."

Varyn smiled knowing that they had worked things out and had become friends, but then a thought emerged in his mind. "Wow… so did we…?" he trailed off.

"What?"

"Did we like… sleep together?"

The Hungarian suddenly blushed at this. "Well, yeah… a couple times. But it was literally a millennia ago!"

"Damn. Wish I could remember that."

Elizaveta leaned forward and punched his arm, all the while grinning. "God dammit Varyn! You never change!"

The timing of their conversation finishing was perfect, as Prussia came over just as she saw her lover being hit.

"Hey! No touchy! Only I get to do that." She stated as she wrapped her arms around the neck of the seated Varyn.

Hungary smirked at her friend's tight embrace around the Celtic's throat, which looked painful to him. "Wow, clingy much?"

"Hey! I'm not clingy! I'm just protective!"

The dirty blonde however coughed under the pressure of her surprisingly strong arms. "Julia, you're c-choking me."

"Sorry!" Her face reddened as she immediately let go of Reikland, much to the brunette's delight.

"See? Clingy."

"Shut up!" The Prussian then grabbed Varyn's hand and dragged him towards the exit of the conference room. "Come on Var! We're leaving!"

Reikland stumbled and tripped as the albino led him through groups of nations, tables, and chairs. "W-Wait! Julia! Slow down!" he shouted, but to no avail.

When they had reached their car in the parking lot, Julia finally let go of the now tired Nordic's hand. She then proceeded to turn around and folded her arms together in annoyance. "What were you talking about?"

"What?" he asked, rubbing his neck in the area that was squeezed.

"Elizaveta and you. What were you talking about?"

"Oh," He smiled nervously, "She was just telling me of how we had a brief relationship before the first crusade. She mentioned at Alfred's party that it might be better if I didn't remember everything between us, and I was confused as to what she meant so I asked her just now to explain."

When he was done with his excuse, Varyn noticed that the Prussian's ruby-violet eyes were wide open. "What is it?"

"You talked about your relationship with her?" She asked monotonously, her eyes staring past him.

"Well, I didn't know anything about it… but yeah." This seemed to not alleviate the stunned appearance of the woman. "Uh, are you okay?" He asked, suddenly worried. Her gaze still hadn't moved.

For the third time that day, a thought came into Reikland's head. "Julia… is that the thing I said which made you push me off the bridge?"

This broke the albino's trance-like state as she turned her face to look at the ground, ashamed.

 _Guess I was right_

Varyn though, felt bad for making her feel guilty and tried to comfort her. He reached out to her hand with his, and touched her chin gently with his other.

"Julia? Julia look at me. Don't beat yourself up over what happened okay? I told you I'm not mad, and I forgive you alright? Please just be your cheerful and obnoxious self again?"

This made the silver haired nation smile as she wiped away a stare tear from her eye.

"Thank you Var, I know I shouldn't get caught up on the past, it's just that… whenever I think about what I did… and all the things I made you forget… I just can't help but feel awful and wish that I could back to that day and stop myself."

It broke his heart to see the Prussian so down about herself and full of regret, so he got closer and hugged her in a strong but caring embrace.

Julia was surprised at first, but soon relaxed and hugged the taller nation back, thankful for his show of affection. After a few moments though, she smirked and then whispered into his ears:

"Thank you for cheering me up Var. Can I repay you with some thank you sex?"

Reikland then broke the embrace and looked down at the woman sternly, holding her arms back in restraint as she tried to get closer to him. " _Nevet!_ Leave my virgin-pure body alone!"

"Varyn. You've had more sex than anyone on this planet. You're not a virgin."

He stuck his tongue out. "This new Varyn is as of yet!"

Julia rolled her eyes. "Loser. I'll change that soon enough."

He laughed as he opened the car door and entered. "Hah! That means I'm just making you more desperate! Damn it feels good to be the one in control!"

The albino punched his arm as she got into the driver's seat. "Fuck you, that's my job."

He rubbed his arm in pain. Both girls had hit him in the exact same spot. "I'll have to get used to all the arm punching."

"Suck it up you pansy."

"Hey, are your bones two thousand two hundred years old?" He retorted.

There was a pause between the two for a moment.

"I didn't think so." he said, lifting his chin into the air.

Julia chuckled under her breath. " _Drama queen._ " She whispered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

And so, they bickered all the way to their hotel.

Translations:

 _Älsk_ : Reikish for 'love' or 'darling

 _Nevet_ : Reikish for 'no'


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

-The Hunting Trip-

(gone wrong)

120's A.D.

Central Askroltia

Three riders and a rather large wolf slowly treaded down the long and muddy path into the dense and dark forest before them, properly named the ' _Tywyll Coeiddei'_

Suddenly, there was a long sigh of annoyance from the rider on the right as she extended her arms to behind her head.

"Why do we always have to meet up in Askroltia? Why can't we ever group up in my lands? They're not so muggy."

The rider in the middle smiled at the blonde's irritance. "Because, Varyn's lands are central between ours. It would be a pain for you to come to Britannia, and it would be a pain for me to go to Scandinavia."

"Ugh, fine. But I swear, the only difference between Askroltia and Britannia are the so called 'mountains' Varyn has. Other than that, both your guy's lands are as cheerful and bright as the bottom of the sea."

The rider on the left took offense to this. "Hey! My mountains are substantial! And _I_ was blessed with fucking volcanoes! Do you know how cool that is? Do I hear of any volcanoes in Scandinavia? Nope."

The blonde on the right retaliated. "How are volcanoes cool?! They bring fire and destruction! If anything there are a hindrance to your people!"

"Ha! As if! My people aren't dumb enough to be harmed by the fires, and the ash that comes from the eruptions are great for farming. But you wouldn't know about that would you Astrid? Your proficiency in farming is a good as your ability to read."

"So non existent." The ginger in the middle snickered.

"Shut up! Just because I don't understand Latin doesn't mean I can't read! I have my runes!"

"Yeah, and we all know how well runes are for writing." The Celtic on the left said, laughing together with his sister.

"Oh shut it Varyn. At least I wasn't conquered like the weak two of you."

"That just proves how undesirable your lands are."

The blonde Scandinavian did not respond to this comment and instead turned her head to look away from the siblings.

The rider in the middle rode closer to the young man and whispered to him out of earshot of the Nordic. "Uh oh Varyn, looks like she's giving us the silent treatment."

"No, she's just trying to think of a good comeback. Just wait, she'll try to insult one of us in a few moments."

The redhead smiled at this and rode back to her position in the middle of the other two.

After a few minutes had passed in silence, the man's prediction came true as the blonde attempted to mock him.

"Hey Varyn, do you remember all those year ago when we first met?" She asked.

"Yeah? What about it?"

She then smiled. "And do you remember how you thought I was a boy a boy at first? You were so excited to get to know another guy!"

The dirty blonde reddened from embarrassment. "Okay I'm sorry I was excited to think that I had a guy friend! All of the people I had heard about where women except for Germania, Carthage, and Rome! There's Gaul, Gwyneth and you of course, Aestii, Greece, Iberia, Egypt, Anatolia, Helvetia, Illyria... and it doesn't stop there! The list just goes on and on with all the girls! So yes, I admit that I was a little happy when I first saw you to believe I could relate to someone of the same gender!"

But he then smirked. "But besides, you can't blame me. I mean, you _did_ seem like a guy back then: with you hair cut short and the weird way you used to talk! And you completely lacked the ideal feminine charm of a woman, which I can confidently say hasn't changed at all since then."

"Hey! Shut up!"

She then bent down from her horse, picked up a rock, and hurled it at him.

The dirty blonde however saw it coming and caught it, letting it fall out of his hands to the ground.

"So predictable Scandi…"

She grunted and once more turned her head away the two, leaving them in silence as the distance between them and the great forest in front of them diminished.

 _*Le time skip*_

A while later, the group entered into the woods. The path here was much narrower, not enough to even ride two abreast, so the group had to place themselves single filed; Astrid in the front, Varyn in the middle, Gwyneth near the back, and Värjö bringing up the rear. The foliage here was thick, dark, and tangled, almost giving off an eerie and mysterious effect; with the canopy above them so thick, little to no sunlight pierced through.

"Varyn, what do your people call this place again?" Astrid called from the front, turning her head back slightly.

He sighed as he knew that she would mock the name of it. "We call it ' _Tywyll Coeiddei'_ or, the 'Dark Forest'."

" _Ti-Tiwll Ceidi_?" She asked, purposely butchering the pronunciation to spite him. "Celtic… truly a garbage language group."

Both siblings sighed at the Scandinavian's weak attempt to insult them. But then an idea creeped into Varyn's mind. Why not play upon the Nordic woman's known fear of ghosts and the undead?

"There has actually been a history of strange signs and lights at night around here. Some say that demons are the cause for them, others speak of ghosts of those whose who have passed on."

He could almost feel the platinum blonde's hair stick up on end. "A-And what do you believe?"

Askroltia shrugged casually; the sightings were in fact real, but the cause behind them was hardly anything that scared the Celtic. But she didn't need to know that. "You never know; could be fireflies and small insects, could be the dead preying on the living, seeking revenge for their untimely deaths."

It was a strange, but perfectly timed coincidence that Värjö suddenly yelped in surprise.

This scared the blonde in front as she nearly jumped off her horse, who in turn bucked and sent her crashing to the forest floor.

The two siblings couldn't contain their laughter at Astrid's misfortune.

The Nordic cursed as she got up and brushed herself off.

"Fuck off! Sorry I was a little spooked at his sudden screaming! And what with Varyn telling us about creepy things got me a little on edge! What's wrong with him anyway?" She demanded, pointing towards the large canine who was licking his front foot.

It turned out that Värjö had only stepped on a thorn which embedded itself into his paw. He gave another slight whimper as Varyn pulled it out. Upon inspecting it in his hands, he noticed how tiny it was and glanced at the wolf pathetically.

"Seriously? You yelped in pain because of this?"

The dark grey creature gave him a look that said 'it startled me okay?'

He waved the wolf off and remounted his horse. "Just a thorn that he stepped on," Varyn informed the girls, "a small one a that. Anyways, let's continue. Can't let miniscule things like that impede on our hunting."

Värjö gave a snort of displeasure as his master mocked him.

As they began to advance, a soft mutter could be heard from the blonde in front. "Better be fucking great game here for all this trouble."

A few minutes later, the trio (sorry Värjö, you don't count) came upon an extremely narrow section of the hunting trail; numerous trees came together with their branches nearly blocking the way through.

Astrid slowed down when she reached it, letting the others fall close behind her. One particularly flexible branch was directly in her way, so she pushed it in front of her and let herself through, still holding on to it.

Varyn assumed that she would hold it for the other two to go ahead, so he nudged his horse to walk forward. However, as he reached where the branch should be, he saw the blonde's fingers slip as she let it free from her hands, and it instantly began to snap back. Askroltia saw this coming and instinctively bent his head back to avoid the incoming whiplash approaching him.

Varyn was known for his quick reflexes; able to spot an enemy and fire a volley of arrows in quick succession in a matter of seconds. Able to mount a galloping horse at top speed. Able to drop an object and pick it up before it reached the ground. Once he even caught an arrow during a bet.

Indeed, his reflexes were fast. But not fast enough.

The branch smashed into his face, sending his head flying back; he thought he felt a snap in his neck. To him, it felt like someone flicked him, only that the person flicking him had the arm strength of a sexually deprived hormonal teenager, and that the finger they used to flick him was actually a twenty pound club. Plus, to add insult to injury, the branch came back and smacked the back of his head too.

Varyn yelled in pain and proceeded to pinch his nose, afraid blood might spill out. None however did, but it still hurt like hell.

"Damn, thought I had that." He mumbled.

Astrid smirked at him. "Oops, it slipped. Sorry about that." She then flicked her hair back and galloped forward a bit.

Gwyneth then cantered from behind so she was side by side with Varyn and leaned towards him, "For some reason I don't think she's sorry."

"I thought as much." he stated blandly.

They rode together quietly for a few moments as the Nordic got even further from earshot. When she was far enough, Gwyneth broke the silence. "You know Varyn, it's obvious that she likes you, and I have a pretty good hunch that the feeling is mutual. When are you going to advance with your relationship with her?"

The younger Celt exhaled heavily from his nose in amusement. "Astrid? Her and I go together like Rome wearing pants."

"Oh come on, you guys are perfect for each other! Your constant bickering and teasing of one another just proves how much you should be together!" She whined, wishing her brother would finally find love.

"Your logic doesn't make any sense. Besides Gwyneth, I really believe that she just thinks of me like a little brother. I mean, come on, she's always picking on me and stuff."

"That's just how girls show that they like you; you should really know this by now Varyn. Now man up and take advantage of this opportunity! You have a beautiful girl just waiting for you to sweep her off her feet!"

"Yeah? And what about you?"

The redhead looked at him confusedly. "What? What do you mean?"

"Gwyneth, please. I see the way you look at Romulus, you're totally into him! Why don't you woman up and seize the opportunity?" He teased.

His sister blushed heavily at this. "Shut up… it's not like that, I just… admire him."

Varyn stuck out his tongue. "And that's it? Come on Gwen, you can tell me, I'm your bro-" However, he did not get to finish his statement before an arrow slammed itself into the trunk of a tree just inches next to his face.

"Get down!" He ordered immediately. Time slowed down as Varyn then instinctively drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and shot in the direction of where the first had come, all before Gwyneth had even dismounted.

He heard a scream of pain from behind a tree to the left and knew his arrow had reached his target. But he also knew that that was not the only threat; more enemies were nearby and ready to strike, he could sense it.

The dirty blonde jumped off his horse and dragged his sister behind the cover of a nearby rock. It was almost in vain however, as a few arrows struck the ground right where they had been not even a second ago. He then whistled to Värjö to join him, as the wolf had been partly stunned by the rapid change of events.

Varyn then quickly peeked his head over the edge of the rock to scan the forest around him. He speedily took account of the company of men he spotted hiding in the trees before ducking back behind the cover of the stone as one arrow nearly hit him, coming within an inch of his ear as he heard it whiz past and sink itself into a tree behind him.

"Damn." he muttered to himself. He then addressed his sister beside him. "Must be at least fifeteen of them."

As he said this though, one of the bandits suddenly appeared in front of them, a sword raised in his hands and ready to strike. But Varyn quickly lashed out with his foot and kicked him in the shin, making him lose his balance and sending him crashing onto another rock just beside them. He then took the opportunity to climb on top of the man, draw his hunting dagger, and slit his throat.

He took the sword from the now dead man's hands and tossed it to Gwyneth, who stared at him in surprise.

"Fourteen." He grinned at her.

Askroltia then equipped his bow once more, reached for an arrow in his quiver, nocked it, and prepared for the next enemy to reveal themselves.

"Okay, hold on a second." He heard from beside him.

"What?" He whispered back, not wanting to speak too loudly.

"Well, first, what the fuck just happened? Who are these people? And second, where did Astrid go? She was riding in front of us just a few moments ago!"

"Shhhhhh!" He hushed his sister. "Don't shout. One, I don't know who they are, all that matters though is that they are trying to kill us." He then chuckled to himself.

 _As if they could._

"And two, I also don't know. But we did fall back from her a bit. Maybe they didn't see her and she ran off or something."

"She wouldn't do that! She's probably just hiding and waiting for the chance to hit them from behind."

"Well whatever happened to her, we can't rely on her. We'll have to do this our own."

Gwyneth nodded in agreement and looked at the area around them. "Man, pretty bad ambush, if you can even call it that. They're only attacking us from one side."

"What can you expect? They're most likely bandits and brigands; not exactly military masterminds."

"I know, but this is like common sense."

"Well, as easy as this situation will be for us to handle, I will recommend that we be quiet now; don't want them to sneak up on us while we chit-chat." As he said this, he released an arrow into an approaching man who was doing exactly what Varyn had warned about; however he wasn't too sneaky and fell dead to the ground.

"Thirteen." He muttered to himself as he reached for another arrow from the quiver.

"When did you get so tactical and good at fighting?"

" _He who desires peace, let him prepare for war._ " Varyn responded.

"What? Who said that?"

"Me, just now. But seriously Gwyneth, be quiet." He scolded.

"Hey, I'm the older sibling here; I get to call the shots."

"Haven't been doing too much of that recently."

She punched his arm. "Shut up." But then grew silent.

"This is weird." She spoke after about a minute.

"What is?"

"This is all too badly planned. One, their not rushing and putting pressure on us. And two, why would they ambush us from one side? One of the most basic parts of an ambush is that you surround your enemy." She listed off, not content with what was happening.

"It's almost as if they're trying to distract us from something else…"

But as she trailed off, Varyn suddenly saw three men approaching silently from behind her, weapons in hand.

 _How did I not notice them?_

He quickly shoved Gwyneth aside, released an arrow into the first man, dropped his bow, drew his dagger, and thrust himself into the second man. The third however was taken care of by Värjö as the wolf threw himself at the man's neck.

The heavy set man he had targeted was taken aback by the sudden reaction of Askroltia, and dropped the sword in his hands, but he then realized that he heavily outweighed him, and regained control once more.

Varyn arched his arm with the blade towards the man's unprotected throat, hoping to catch him off guard and end the engagement before he realized his power over the more nimble man. He however, easily dodged the knife and grabbed ahold of Varyn's arm with an iron grip.

 _Shit_. He mentally thought. Now, Varyn was out in sight of all his opponents, away from the protection of the rock he was previously hiding behind. Even if he managed to kill the man directly before him, he could still be riddled with arrows before he got the chance to hide again. The situation was bad. And even though he could not be killed, many other horrible things could be done to him.

His mind raced for a solution.

 _Where the hell is Gwyneth?_

But as he looked in her direction, he noticed that the redhead was fending off another bandit, the two exchanging blows with their swords.

Varyn then returned his attention back to the man holding his arm as he reached down and grabbed the sword that he had previously dropped. With his mind partially distracted for just a second, He wrenched his arm away as hard as he could, throwing the man off balance. Varyn, was by no means in any stretch of direction a heavy person, he was in fact very lean, but he could still throw his weight around.

The Celt then slammed his boot into the knee of his adversary with all the force he could muster, and the man shouted in pain as his now broken knee cap bent the opposite way. Varyn was about to kill the man, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure rushing towards him. He turned his body to face his opponent who seemed to have no intention of stopping. Varyn prepared himself to receive the man, and at the last second when he was about to reach the Celt, he flicked the dagger still in his hands out.

The bandit, not expecting this, threw himself into Varyn, and also, the blade.

The two bodies fell to the ground as momentum carried the now dead man to the forest floor.

Upon getting up, Varyn wiped the blood off his face, sheathed his knife, and scanned the area around him. It seemed that all the bandits had now decided to attack the group, as Gwyneth had killed her first opponent, and was now facing off two more men. She was now however equipped with her spear. She must have grabbed it from her horse before engaging the two men that she was now. This relieved Varyn, as he knew her proficiency in the weapon.

He then spotted Värjö sinking his teeth into the throat of another bandit, a very young one at that. He noticed that the boy never stood a chance, as the wolf was nearly the same size, and he had only carried a bow.

Varyn though couldn't waste time admiring the scene, as there were more men approaching the group. Definitely more than thirteen.

 _Damn, my numbers were way off_

Thus, he dashed back towards the rock from before and picked up the bow he had let go of. He then drew an arrow from the quiver that he was still wearing and launched it into the nearest man trying to reach him.

He let loose another few arrows at his targets, killing many, including the man whose knee he had destroyed, when he realized something.

 _If Astrid was coming back to help us, she'd be here by now._

His thoughts however were interrupted as a blinding pain suddenly burst itself through his calf.

Varyn fell to the ground with searing agony as he saw the shaft and head of an arrow sticking out through his leg.

 _Fuck_

"Well that can't be good." He told himself, trying to downplay the urgency of what had just happened.

As he tried to think of what to do, he heard his name being shouted by Gwyneth, and craned his neck to look at her. There was a dead man on the ground and another still attacking her, but she was preoccupied with pointing next to him.

He turned back to where she was indicating and found that there was yet again a man rushing at him with a sword. This time though, he had no dagger to protect him, as he didn't have the time to unsheathe it.

 _Fuck_

He quickly attempted to rise, only to fall back down as his wounded leg seemed to scream at him.

 _Fuck_

Beginning to panic, he braced for impact with his eyes shut as the man was now just upon him, his sword arm arched back and ready to slice his head clean off.

He waited for the strike, waited for the pain, waited for his head to loll off and stare at his decapitated body…

But it never came.

Varyn opened opened his eyes and saw that the attacker before him now had a lovely arrow sprouting from his neck, and collapsed to the ground; choking on his own blood.

 _Well damn_

He looked to see where the projectile had come from, and ultimately, his savior, when he spotted none other than the blonde Scandinavian, about a hundred and fifty feet away and bow in hand.

She fired another shot at a man who had noticed her before rushing over to where Varyn was laying down like an innocent cow just waiting to be slaughtered.

"Varyn! Goddammit! I can't leave you guys for one second without you needing your ass saved!"

"Love you too sweetie." He muttered.

She released yet another arrow before offering the downed Celt her hand to get up. "Saw what happened, looks painful. Are you hurt anywhere else?" She asked fretfully.

He accepted the hand and rose himself up with great effort (and pain). "Yeah, just a nick or two but I'm fine other than… that." he said, referring the shaft protruding from his calf. He was actually happy that Astrid was worried for him, but he knew that it was to be expected from a friend. And so, while leaning his weight on her, Varyn was led (or dragged more like) towards the horses, who for some strange reason had not run off; as if this was a natural occurrence for them.

Upon laying him next to his mount, Astrid nodded at him and rejoined the fight by relieving Gwyneth of the men she was holding back with her spear.

Varyn still wanted to contribute though, not wanting to feel useless, and reached for the spare hunting bow that was attached to the saddle of his horse. It was a lot less powerful than the elegantly crafted (and seriously expensive) bow that he had just been using, which he had dropped when the arrow hit him, but it would do.

However, as he attempted to draw back the string, he realized that he couldn't. All the energy seemed to be sapped from him with his adrenaline now gone, and with this, he threw the bow to the side in frustration.

 _Goddammit_

 _*Le time skip*_

The skirmish eventually dwindled down as the two women and wolf were easily able to handle the rest of the bandits, who ended up fleeing after seeing so many of their comrades fall and realizing that their attack was futile.

Gwyneth and Astrid saw to Varyn's wound, extracting the shaft of the arrow from his leg and bandaging it, but no further attention was required, it would be completely healed in a matter of a few days. Värjö sensed his master's injury and laid his snout on Varyn's bloodied leg.

It was beginning to get dark by now, and with everyone exhausted from the fight, plus the liability of an injured member, the group decided to camp nearby for the night, with the girls fetching wood for a campfire. Varyn took it upon himself to build the fire while the others tried to find anything to eat in the receding daylight, leaving him alone at the campsite with Värjö.

By the time they returned, Varyn had a proud campfire burning bright and large enough to cook the deer that they luckily managed to find. When they all settled comfortably around the fire as night began to fall and waited for the venison to cook, Varyn and Gwyneth looked to Astrid to explain a few things.

"So what happened?" The ginger asked, taking a bite out of a piece of bread. "We only went a little bit behind you, how did you get away without them seeing you?"

Astrid smirked as she stretched out her cramped muscles from the tiring day. "Well it was because you two couldn't shut up. I heard a bit of rustling behind us and stayed silent until I saw who was there. When I noticed that they were going to attack, I rushed ahead in hope they wouldn't see me so I could come back and surprise them. It only worked because they could only hear the two of you babbling your mouths off and didn't hear me."

Both Varyn and his sister looked at each other shamefully.

"But why do you think they attacked us?" Gwyneth continued.

"Do bandits ever need a reason?" Varyn said, "Probably just saw some well-off hunters and thought there might be money."

He then looked at the clothing of the two women and then to his own, and shrugged.

"Well at least _I_ look well off, don't know what they saw in you two."

They both threw their pieces of bread at his face.

"You know," Astrid began irritability. "You would think me saving your ass will humble you a little and teach you to respect your elders."

Varyn sprung up into the air. "Never! My ego will never be satisfied!" He then attempted to run away cackling, before being reminded of the biting pain in his calf, "HAHAHAHAHA- oh fuck." He then tripped and fell face first onto the ground, hitting his head and getting a mouthful of dirt.

The two women tried in vain to contain their amusement and began to laugh at the unfortunate Celt and his inflated ego.

Though after about of minute of their constant mockery, Varyn was still on the ground and in pain.

"Could I, uh, get a little help?" He asked measly.

As the girls ceased their giggling, Astrid went over to the dirty blonde and helped him up and back to the log he was previously sitting on. She then went to the fire and turned the deer to get a more even cook. Being satisfied, she began to sit back down, exhausted from the events of the day, only to feel and hear a crack underneath her.

Varyn raised one eyebrow suspiciously. "What was that?" He asked.

Astrid curiously lifted herself up, revealing Varyn's now broken bow.

The dirty blonde, now wide eyed, instantly rushed towards it, the pain from just a minute ago forgotten, and kneeled down, picking up the two pieces. "M-My… my bow…"

Astrid held a hand to her mouth in surprise. "Oh shit…"

Varyn's initial shock quickly turned to anger as he then accusingly yelled at the woman. "You fat ass! How did you break a bow without noticing it first?!"

"Hey it's not my fault you put it there!"

"You should watch where you're sitting before you lay your heavy behind down!"

"It's dark out okay?! I didn't see it! And stop calling me fat!"

Gwyneth now took up the mother figure and came between the two quarreling figures.

"Hey now guys, calm down; this is nothing to fight over."

She first addressed her brother. "Varyn, it's just a bow, shut the fuck up and don't be so upset about it." She then turned on the Nordic. "And Astrid, apologize at least, you _did_ break it."

But Varyn wouldn't hear it.

"I'm not just taking an apology! That bow cost me a lot! I had to hire a man from fucking Persia to craft it for me! You should get me a new one!"

"What?! Varyn you know I don't have a lot of money! My lands are poor! Please don't make me get you a new one! I'm sorry!"

Askroltia's face remained unwavered. "Sorry's not good enough for how expensive it is."

Astrid thus resorted to begging on her knees. "Noooooo! Please! I don't have people in my lands who can replicate that! We hardly even use bows! Please Varyn, have compassion on a clumsy soul like me! I'll repay you one day I promise!"

This last plea, combined with the Scandinavian's cute pleading violet eyes broke his resolve, making him sigh in defeat. "Fine… just know that you better pay me back in the future."

The platinum blonde beamed at him despite his previous insults, giving him a hug. "Yay! Thank you!"

As she embraced him tightly, Gwyneth gave the Celt a thumbs up and a suggestive wink.

Varyn replied with a blank expression and a middle finger.

 _*Le time skip*_

Askroltia turned uneasily in his sleeping bag; his leg wound, despite already beginning to heal, was irritating him, preventing him from being comfortable. He decided to get up instead of trying to fall asleep in vain.

The Celt walked over to where Astrid was sitting, keeping the first watch over the campsite while the siblings were supposed to get some rest. The stars were out tonight, shining brilliantly above them and illuminating the night sky, this filled her attention before she noticed him.

The Nordic appeared surprised at his coming. "Varyn? Why are you awake? You should be getting some sleep, especially with that leg."

He sat down on the log she was on with a grunt, his wound shooting flames of pain throughout his leg. "Exactly why I'm here, leg is keeping me from sleeping."

"Ah." she said understandingly, and drew her gaze back to the stars.

Varyn joined her in her viewing of the amazing sight, and the two stared in silence for quite sometime. "Beautiful isn't it?" he asked after what seemed like half an hour.

"Amazing." Astrid responded. She then turned her attention to the young man beside her. "Hey Varyn…" she began.

He looked away from the sky and instead to his best friend. "Yeah?"

"Well…" She trailed off nervously, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I had circle around and come back for you guys, I was worried that you might have gotten seriously hurt or captured. I know that your leg was hit, but other than that I was relieved to know that both of you were okay. You especially."

The dirty blonde blushed and was taken aback a little. Astrid didn't usually ever show a deeper sense of caring than just what friends would.

"Oh… thank you… Astrid..."

The Nordic couldn't see the dirty blonde very well through the dark, but she could tell that he was grinning.

Translations:

Tywyll Coeiddei: Old Reikish for 'dark woods'


	23. Chapter 23

Author's note: to avoid confusion, there are three main timelines being followed in this story: one of Varyn's early days with Scandinavia, one starting in the medieval times with his first meeting of Julchen/Julia which lasts until nearly modern day, and one for the modern day chapters, with the additional out of order chapters that are spread out throughout the entire story. Also note that in the chapters with Varyn's early days, anytime the term 'Nordic' is written it is in reference to Scandinavia/Astrid. Any chapter after that 'the Nordic' is in reference to Varyn (because he adopted Nordic culture) or any of the modern day Nordics.

Chapter 23

-Antebellum-

1374 A.D.

Tråvlo, Reikland

Reikland was sitting at the desk in his personal quarters when the King suddenly burst through the door.

"Varyn! Varyn you have to hear this!" He shouted, waving a piece of parchment in his hand.

The Nordic irritably twisted in his chair to look at the annoying man who never seemed to grow up. "What is it Karl?" He asked, not interested at all.

He slammed the paper in front of the nation in his desk. "Look! Look at this and laugh at it!"

"What is it?"

"You know about the stupid 'Kalmar Union' in the east between Denmark and Norway, and the king being the heir to Sweden too?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"Guess what!"

"Well-" he was about to respond before being interrupted.

"Too late! Olaf II's mother, Margaret, who's actually running the Kingdom, has invited us to join her union!"

This got Varyn's attention. "What?!"

"I know right?! Whatever that lady's on, I want some of it!"

"What was your reply?!" The dirty blonde demanded.

"I haven't written it yet, but no of course! I would never in my right mind give up my lands to that stupid wench! Gosh Varyn, have a little confidence in me."

Varyn gave out a relieved sigh. King Karl wasn't an idiot, but he happened to be a little… aloof, to kindly put it. He was certainly a man more well suited for the battlefield rather than the throne room to make decisions for such a large Kingdom. It was a wonder to anyone who knew him personally how he was able to his raise his two sons, Emrys and Grecoff, when he was hardly more mature than them.

"You're right… sorry, I just thought of the worst for a second."

Karl waved him off. "It's alright. Anyways, when I got the letter, I knew you would want to hear about it, you have close relations to the other Nordics right?"

Reikland grew a little pale at this. "Um… yeah… they're my… well it's complicated."

The king before him raised a suspicious eyebrow at his answer. "Well, whatever they are to you, I'm basically going to give the middle finger to them and their union; is that alright?"

"Oh please, go ahead. Mathias is an annoying prick anyways, Lukas seems to hate everyone and everything, and Berwald… well… Berwald is just Berwald."

Karl gave him a thumbs up. "Good to hear! Anyways, there's news from the Welsh too, you know Owain Lawgoch?"

"The guy who is the claimant heir as the Prince of Wales?"

"Exactly! Now our friend Owain is attempting to claim his title with an invasion of Wales next year and is asking for our aid along with King Robert of Scotland to help fend off the English. What with the English embroiled with their continued campaigns in France, I say this is a perfect opportunity to help undermine those stupid Anglo-Saxons! Shall I comply?"

Reikland scoffed. "You're the King, you make the decisions. Or do you need someone to hold your hand and guide you through the of your time as ruler?"

"Hey now, I'm only asking because I don't have fourteen hundred years of experience behind me. Now will you give me an answer?"

Varyn bit into the apple on his desk nonchalantly. "Fifteen Hundred."

"What?"

After a few more bites he replied in the same monotone voice. "I've been alive for fifteen hundred years, not fourteen."

"Really? Does that matter?"

He then brought a finger to his chin and stared off at nothing. "Actually, almost sixteen hundred by now. Fuck I'm old."

"Would you just answer the damn question?"

"What was it again?"

Karl was beginning to be irritated by the dirty blonde. "Owain's request! Shall I give him aid?"

"Oh. Yes, yes of course. Why wouldn't we? They are our Celtic brothers after all."

The king gritted his teeth in frustration. "You could have just said that to begin with."

"Ah, but where's the fun in that? I like to tease men who look and feel older than me but are quite mistaken."

"Whatever, say, when's your French girlfriend coming to visit?"

"Valérie? We don't have a relationship, she hates my guts it seems. But shouldn't you know this? I mean we have been planning it for about a month now."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know, I forgot. Just tell me when."

"Overmorrow."

"What?"

Varyn sighed. "It means 'the day after tomorrow'."

"Why couldn't you just say that?"

"Because there's a specific word for it."

"I've never heard of 'overmorrow'!"

"Sorry I'm more educated."

"Hey I'm educated!" Karl retorted, "And I've never heard anyone say that before!"

Varyn shrugged. "Whatever, can't we skip to the next scene? The readers are probably getting bored right now with this meaningless conversation."

"What? What readers? What next scene? I'm not done yelling at you!"

"Oh Karl…." the Nordic sighed and smiled.

 _*Le time skip*_

"Is she here yet?" He anxiously asked the woman next to him.

Queen Yennyfer sighed. "Calm down Varyn; honestly, you would think with fourteen hundred years under your belt you would learn to be patient. You're like a child sometimes."

"Fifteen hundred." He muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Both turned their heads from their view upon the castle walls as they heard a trumpet sound near the entrance of the city.

"Ah, see? Here comes your lover now, heralded in at the gates."

The old nation slumped his shoulders. "But she hates me. I don't know why she would agree to come here. Probably just going to bitch and moan the whole time."

The Queen didn't like his prediction. "I've met dear Valérie before, she's a sweet girl."

"Not when around me. I try to be nice to her but it seems that everything I do seems to get under her skin. Honestly, I've never met someone so abrasive before."

Yennyfer grinned at the oblivious Celt. "Oh Varyn, you're a hopeless case. I had a rather intimate discussion with her when we spoke, and believe it or not, she is at least a bit fond of you; maybe she just has a hard time of expressing that when around you. Teasing men they like is what women like to do you know."

The dirty blonde snorted lightly. "If you can call physical abuse teasing." He then rubbed his arm as if trying to ease a phantom pain. "I think she'll break my arm if she hits me again."

"Suck it up you pansy. And besides, why don't we stop talking about her and start talking to her alright? Her carriage is almost to the castle."

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm not blind."

Despite his statement, the Queen noticed him squinting his eyes. "You sure?" She teased.

He gave her a gentle push. "Piss off."

 _*Le minor time skip*_

After being accepted at the gates, Varyn took it upon himself to lead Valérie around the streets of the great capital of the entire Kingdom (Tråvlo was the old capital of Reikland before Laezët), showing off the old yet beautiful city.

"So Valérie, how was your trip here?" He asked, trying to make small talk with the dark brunette as they walked through corridors towards their first destination.

"Oh my, it was horrible; the boat kept heaving this way and that. I'm ashamed to say that I… discharged the contents in my stomach more than once."

She held her gut at this, almost in remembrance of the uneasiness.

Varyn sighed at this, the two seemed to have less and less in common with every time he talked with her. He had always loved sailing: the smell, the sea spray in his face, the feeling of the waves beneath him and the gentle rocking of the sea as it cradled his ship… but then again, he was an island nation in which sea travel was a necessity, Burgundy on the other hand was far inland with no connection to the oceans.

"Well that sounds unfortunate… I hope it wasn't too awful." He attempted to empathize.

"It was. And oh, the you make food here is just awful; honestly, who thinks any type of pickled seafood is an acceptable food dish? Thankfully I brought my own chef."

 _God damn, is there anything about this woman that's positive?_

"Well, it's an acquired taste. But hey, can you blame me? I'm surrounded by water. But anyways, you sent some your own cuisine beforehand correct?"

"Oh yes, I recall sending some wines ahead of my departure, I hope you received them well?"

He nodded.

"Do you mind if we go and have some of them now?"

The Celt looked at her in confusion. "But you just got here... I wanted to show you some sites around the city."

"Varyn, I'm sure that that can wait. And trust me, you do not want to see me, a french woman, without my wine."

He held up his hands in acceptance. "Alright, alright, we'll head to the castle. That's where we stored them.

She smiled. "Thank you Varyn. You see, this is what a true gentleman would do: put aside his plans to please a lady."

He noticed that this was one of the few instances where he saw the Burgundian smile. And for some reason… he liked it. It was a genuine and honest smile that greatly added to her otherwise rather bland appearance.

But he couldn't pass up the opportunity to insult the woman who had always liked to put him down.

"Yeah, some lady you are." He said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He said quickly, turning his face from the brunette.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Sureee…"

 _*Le time skip*_

Upon entering the castle that was the seat of the King, the two nations made their way into the main dining hall where Varyn had sent for the wine to be brought.

As they passed through the hallways though, Valérie paused in her stride for a brief second.

"Ah shit." The brunette muttered to herself, adjusting her corset as they walked. "My tits itch."

Reikland suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to give her a bewildered look.

Valérie then also stopped as she began to redden. "Y-You heard that?"

The Celt began to smile and squeezed his own chest. "Yeah, but don't worry, mine itch too sometimes."

She then slapped him across the face, leaving a slight red mark on his cheek.

After a moment's hesitation, Varyn's expression of shock turned to annoyance.

"You seem to be fond of slapping my face… was that necessary?"

"Of course! Don't make make fun of me when I'm embarrassed!"

He put his hands on his hips. "Well soooorry for trying to lighten the moment and make it less awkward."

"By mocking me?!"

"It was a joke! And in all honesty, that is something you _should_ get made fun of for."

"Oh please! Like you've never said 'my balls itch' or something?!"

"Never in the close proximity of a woman; I have _some_ decency."

"Okay whatever! I get antsy without my wine, now where is it?"

"Sheesh, calm down; I told you it's just in the dining hall right over there." He said, pointing at a large set of doors close in front of them.

Upon entering and being seated, servants came to hand out small snacks and poured out the wine that the French woman had brought.

This pleased Valérie as she sipped on a glass of the red liquid. "Ahhhhh…" she smacked he lips together in delight at the taste. "Now this, this is a real drink. Better than…" she paused for a moment in contemplation. "Wait, what do you usually drink? Ale? Beer? Mead? I can't imagine wine, the climate is too cold for grapes right?"

Varyn hesitated in his response, he never liked to admitting this to anyone. "Actually, I'm not a big alcohol drinker, I don't know if it's the taste or the burning I get in my throat sometimes, I just don't really like it that much. If I had to say, I guess I would prefer hard cider the most… not as strong as some of the others, plus it's sweet."

The dark brunette nearly dropped her glass at these words. "What?! You don't like alcohol?! That's outrageous! How can you live?! You just haven't tried the right kind yet! Here, try some of my wine and you'll fall in love! Hand picked right from my vineyards and aged to perfection!" She exclaimed, ordering for one of the servants to pour the Nordic a glass.

Reikland stared at the wine now before him. He was unsure, he had almost never liked any alcohol that people tried to get him to drink. He remembered all those years ago in Rome when Romulus had made him drink that disgusting swill in the marketplace…

He brought himself back from daydreaming as he swirled the red liquid around in its container.

 _Oh well, guess it can't be so bad… I haven't had wine in a while now, maybe this will be different_

He closed his eyes as he took a swig of the drink, Valérie's gaze hard upon him in anticipation.

Varyn almost immediately regretted his decision as he let the wine touch his lips and swallowed, and was met with the familiar burning sensation in his throat.

He was tempted to contort his face his disgust, however, not wanting to disappoint the French woman before him, he finished the glass without a grimace.

"So, how is it?" She asked expectantly.

"It's uh…" he tried his best to lie, something that he was not very good at doing. "It's good… at least as my standards go."

"Great!" She clapped her hands together. "I told you you'd like it! Now, here, give me your glass, I'll pour you some more."

The Celt held his hands up in a stopping motion. "Oh no, I think I'm alright. One glass is plenty enough for me."

"Nonsense, the more you have, the better it gets! Here!" The brunette said, handing him his newly replenished cup.

Varyn sighed as he took the glass into his hands and brought it once more to his mouth, but all the while tried to think of a way to avoid drinking it again; looking around the room when he noticed something beside him. King Karl had ordered for plants to be put into pots around the dining hall. Varyn never saw the point in doing this, but for once he finally found a purpose for them besides being 'aesthetically pleasing'.

"Hey, what's that over there?" He asked the woman, pointing behind her at nothing.

"What's what?" She asked, turning her head.

The dirty blonde quickly took the opportunity to pour out the rest of the glass's contents into the potted plant. As Valérie looked back towards him, he brought it back to his lips to make it seem like he had just finished it.

"What did you point at?"

"Oh, uh, sorry, I… just thought I saw something." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "Anyways!" He exclaimed, changing the subject. "Valérie, I want to know more about you; what's your relationship with France? Are you two related? I feel like I would have known if our dear Francis had a sister."

"To be honest, I don't really know. I like to think we are related; I consider him my cousin."

Varyn scratched the stubble on his chin. "Intriguing… are you two good friends?"

"Uh… I mean, I guess? To be honest, I don't see him that often anymore. These days he's been so busy with helping to manage the war with England that he doesn't have much down time." This statement however made the brunette remember something.

"Oh yeah! I nearly forgot! I need to ask you for your assistance Varyn."

"In what way?"

"Well, with the war having started again with Arthur, I need a bit of help. Do you think you could supply me with a general and some men to command? It doesn't have to be a a lot and I'll pay you for them."

The grey eyed nation leaned back in his chair, considering this. "Hmmmm… I _am_ actually supposed to be invading England soon to help Wales get his independence, so I'll need all the troops I can get… but since you're fighting Arthur, I guess they would be going towards the same cause…" he thought for a another second. "So yes! I'll help you out! Let me know how many men you need and we'll work out a deal together."

By the time he stopped talking to himself however, Reikland noticed the Burgundian was standing up with wide eyes. "What?"

"Did you say that you're going to invade England?!"

"Uh, yes? Why?"

"Noooo! Poor Arthur!" Valérie cried.

This was much to the dirty blonde's confusion. "What?! Why would you care about that prick? You've been at war with him for nearly forty years now!"

She suddenly reddened, or maybe that was just his imagination? "Well… you see… I…"

A unfortunate idea then came to Varyn. "Wait… don't tell me you like him?"

"How can I not?! He's a nice man and such a gentleman! And dang is he handsome!"

"That scrawny fleabag? He has as much hair on his chin as sheared sheep!"

"Well at least he knows how to treat a woman with kindness! He's so nice to me unlike _someone_. And he was never a Viking who massacred and raped people!"

"Are you comparing him to me?" A hint of irritance was now laced in his words.

"Well who else would I be talking about?"

"You know what, whatever, I don't care." He then took a drink from a cup of cider next to him. "So you do like him? For real?" He questioned.

The hazel eyed woman seemed to have calmed down now and sat back down. "I mean, I don't know if I _love_ him, but I kinda… like to picture what it would be like to be him." As she said this, she began to fiddle with her hair, twirling and twisting it between her fingers.

Burgundy however, then sighed; drawing Varyn's attention that something was wrong. "Something the matter?"

"Well… despite what I just said… It's just sad to think that that will probably never happen."

"Why's that?"

"Because, I'm almost one hundred percent sure he has his eyes set on the Portuguese girl: Joana. Every since his treaty of friendship with her, she seems to be the focal point of his conversations, even during peace deals he requests for her to be the arbiter!"

Varyn felt sad for the girl, he knew from experience what it was like to be in love and liked trying to help others find it. "Well what makes you think you don't have a chance against her?"

Valérie's melancholy face immediately turned to one of annoyance. "Uh, I don't know, maybe the fact that she's practically his ally and I've been at war with him for the last forty-odd years? Or maybe the fact that she's beautiful and I'm homely?"

"Hey now, don't sell yourself short. You may not be Helen of Troy, but you certainly outshine most woman. Arthur's a fool if he can't see that." He said, trying to comfort her.

The brunette looked at him suspiciously. "Are you hitting on me?"

Varyn grinned and chuckled lightly. "Ah, älsk, you're quite mistaken; I've had my fair share of love and I don't want to taste it again. I was simply trying to compliment you."

The brunette's face grew flushed and bashful with this. "Oh… well, thank you then."

Reikland smiled and took another sip of the cider beside him. "Anytime. But now," he said, clapping his hand onto the table, "Val. Can I call you Val? I think I'll call you Val. But anyways, I wanted to show you around my city and that's what intend to do, we've had enough with drinking and talking. Is there anything in particular that you want to see?"

"Uhhhhh…" The brunette thought for a moment. "I have heard that you have hot springs that you bathe in, is that true?"

The Nordic man smiled once more. "Indeed we do. Quite relaxing if I must say so myself. We use some of them to heat up the castle in the winter because you know, it gets freezing here. But anyways, I feel like we should see some other things first if that's okay with you, the hot springs are more of a nighttime activity."

He then stood up out of his chair and offered a hand to the Burgundian. "Shall we head out?"

Valérie eyed his hand suspiciously, but eventually took it into her own and grinned. "Let's."

 _*Le time skip*_

"So this is the bath house. Pretty cool right?" The Nordic explained, the two walking up the steps to the large building. They had both had a long day touring around the city, now both were ready for a soothing dip in the hot baths.

It was rather impressive, the hot springs were centered on a slight hill near the capital, and, unlike other hot springs Valérie had heard about, this one was mainly covered by a building and not too open. Probably to keep out the harsh weather when winter comes, she thought to herself. The house was a large and elongated wooden structure with thick logs making up the sides and a classic slanted roof that was typical of Northern architecture.

"So, are you ready?" The brunette suddenly heard, interrupting her evaluation of the bath.

"W-What?"

"Are you ready to go in?" Varyn asked a second time.

"Oh, uh, yes."

"Let's go then." He said, taking her hand and leading her to the entrance.

When they stepped inside, the Burgundian took a second to inspect the building before Reikland pointed to one doorway.

"That's the apodyterium for the women, you can change in there, don't worry about your clothes or anything, there are little shelves to store personal items and there are towels inside."

"Apodyterium?" She asked.

"It's the Latin name for the changing room in a bath house. Since we based our bathes off of the Romans, we use most of the same words."

Valérie nodded in understanding.

"Anyways there's not much more to explain, I'll go this way." he pointed at the doorway opposite from the women's. "Have fun!" He waved her off before leaving.

The French woman smiled at his cheerful attitude before she herself went to get changed.

The 'apodyterium', as Varyn called it, was a small, but cozy room with the shelves on the walls that he said would be there. Valérie sat on a wooden bench next to a stack of clean towels which made her wonder.

 _There must be servants or something who work here… this is all very clean._

As she finished undressing she wrapped one of the surprisingly soft towels around her body, and walked out towards the door which had steam coming from it, which she could only imagine led to the hot springs.

When she finally saw the bath for the first time, she was yet again impressed: it was a very large room with many windows along the walls letting the moonlight in, along with torches to keep the area lit. The bath itself appeared to be very deep, and very hot, as evident from the steam emitting from it. Benches lined the walls of the bath on which to relax on, and there were pillars around parts of the room to keep the roof up. Another nice aspect she noticed was that there was no back wall opposite of her, and the bath led out to the outside cool air; an area she assumed was used in the warmer times of the year.

There was only one thing strange about the whole place.

It was completely empty.

 _What the hell? Isn't this a public building? And this all seems to be very large for just the women's bath._

Her thoughts were soon disrupted as she heard a door behind her open, and the tall man whom she was just taking to stepped out, wearing a robe.

"Ah, I see you already had a chance to admire it. Isn't it great?"

The dark brunette was then even more shocked when he walked towards the steps leading into the bath and let his robe fall to the ground beside him; revealing his very… toned body. "Let's hop in, shall we? The heat is great on old bones like ours." He asked casually.

Valérie had seen naked men before, of course she had in her about three hundred years of life; but they usually consisted of babies or toddlers who were being changed, or fat nobles who would sometimes meet with the dukes of her realm. Never had she encountered a nude man about her age (Well… physically) and without a considerable girth to his waist.

In short, she was embarrassed… and slightly attracted, as her face turned a beet red. To add insult to injury, a tiny drip of blood ran from her nose at that moment.

At her seemingly unresponsiveness, Varyn turned around to look at her, only to see her in such a flustered state, and began to smirk.

"Valérie, I know my body has that effect on women, but please, control your desires." He said sarcastically.

This made the Burgundian's blood boil. For a short time, she thought that she was wrong about him, that she had misjudged him when they first met and that he actually was a nice person. But this? How arrogant could you be? And to mock her like this? Her anger reached her peak as she rushed forwards and slammed her fist into his gut as hard as she could.

The dirty blonde immediately doubled over in pain as the wind was knocked out of him, and he stumbled backwards into the bath, creating a large splash as he hit the water.

Valérie straightened herself out as the man recovered himself, both of them staring at each other in annoyance.

"Well that wasn't very ladylike; requesting to go to a bath house, only to punch the man who she asked to take her when she sees him." He complained, standing up out of the water, revealing himself again.

"C-C-Cover yourself!" The brunette shouted, throwing a spare towel at his exposed body. "W-Why are you here?!" She demanded.

"What do you mean?" Reikland asked in confusion, wrapping the towel around himself.

"Aren't the men and women's baths separated?!"

"Well usually… there is a curtain that can be drawn, but it's a Reikish tradition to bathe with friends, or least acquaintances in our case, regardless of gender. It's a bonding process, or an ice breaker; nothing sexual."

"I don't care if it's tradition! I don't want to bathe naked with you! I'll just go into a different bath!" She shouted, heading for the exit.

Varyn chuckled. "Have fun doing that, considering this is the only one."

This did nothing to alleviate the woman's growing agitation.

"Then we'll take turns!"

"That would take much longer you know, and this place isn't open all night." he countered.

With Valérie's temper at a fever pitch, Varyn tried to compromise.

"Okay fine, we don't have to bathe with each other, but what if I pull across the curtain? Problem fixed. You won't have to see me, and I won't have to see you."

His compromise failed. "What do you mean 'I won't have to see you'? Am I such sore sight?"

The Nordic face palmed at her lack of self regard. "Val, remember just a while ago when I complimented your appearance? I was merely saying that you wouldn't have to worry about me looking at you while you bathe."

The dark brunette flushed with embarrassment over her misunderstanding. "Oh…" she then turned away, her back facing him. "Fine… pull the stupid curtain."

Varyn sighed with relief as he finally managed to calm the Burgundian down. He complied and the two peacefully cleaned themselves in the hot spring bath, a thin piece of fabric the only thing between them. In the end they talked quietly amongst each other for the rest of the night, discussing past memories, their homelands and friends, and other personal matters. Varyn got to learn a lot about Valérie that day, he was surprised to figure out that she would really open up to someone if she was in the right mood. Altogether, it was a relaxing time they spent together, despite not really seeing each other, and Varyn thought that maybe he could learn to like this woman. After all, she was actually very friendly after you got past her more aggressive behavior… maybe they could make this alliance worth it to both of them… somehow...


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

-Christmas on the Western Front-

Today, on Christmas morning, in the year of our lord, Nineteen-Sixteen, an unusual event happened. It snowed during the night before and into the day, which may have been a welcome sight under normal circumstances, but for the men in the trenches, it was viewed with dread. During the morning though, a French man walked, or more stumbled, his way into no man's land from the trench line opposite of us. He carried nothing on him except the clothes on his back.

There was at first shouting from both sides as he trekked his way through the mud and snow, wary of what he could be planning, but all grew silent when he then suddenly collapsed to his knees. The man proceeded to pull out a harmonica and play a tune familiar to all, despite our different tongues.

The harmonica sounded old and well used, but the melody of 'Ode to Joy' was indistinguishable, even when heard across no man's land. It was sad though, and drawn out, as if expressing the emotions of the war-tired soldiers themselves.

At first, there was the whispering and hushings of the soldiers as they tried to find out what was going on, but when they realized it was just a single crazy man, they calmed down.

Eventually, there could be heard humming from the opposite side of the trenches, and we realized our French adversaries had began to add their voices to the song.

Not too much latter, even some of my men began to hum along to the tune, the only music they had probably listened to in months. And I'll admit, it was a wonderful sight, to see the forces opposing each other for more than two years joined together in song.

However, the heartwarming moment did not last, as the man reached the end of his little concert, he stood up, still looking down at the ground, drew a pistol hidden under his blue coat, and shot himself.

The gunfire rang across the field and as the man collapsed to the ground shouting resumed as people tried to see what had happened, worried that someone had fired upon them.

Silence then returned as the soldiers from both sides realized what had happened, and a depressing atmosphere fell upon the trench lines as we continued on our day as if it was just another winter morning, and another dismal day of this 'Great War'.

Some of the German men that were currently under my command talked of the Christmas Truce two years ago, where British and German soldiers alike put aside their rifles and bayonets for instead gifts and footballs. There was merriment and joyous festivity shared between the fellow men, who saw past the current conflict and viewed each other as humans, and not the enemy.

They say history repeats itself; but it will not today.

It was later discovered in his journal that the man was Henrie Gavreau, a man of thirty six, whose wife and children had perished in the village of _Bezonvaux_ during the onslaught caused by my forces.

My most sincere apologies and respects to you and your family, Mr. Gavreau.

-Varyn Fjøsson, 25/12/1916


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

-Amusement Park Antics-

November, 2015

Julia was upset.

There was no one beside her when she awoke, and she did not like to sleep alone, shouldn't he know that by now?

She thus angrily came down the stairs to tell Varyn off, however, as she neared the kitchen, she smelled something wonderful which immediately lifted her spirits.

"Mmmmm, did you make coffee?" She asked when she saw Reikland sitting in the kitchen, reading a book and absentmindedly petting Värjö on the head.

Varyn nodded in response.

"Morning sleepy head." He greeted her. "You know, you slept in like two hours longer than me."

Oh. Well I guess if I had to wait that long I would get out of bed too.

Julia sat down next to the blonde and took a bite of the toast he made. "Whatever, it's not like we're going anywhere today."

"That was my toast…" the Celt whined.

"Sucks for you, get your own."

"I did, and you just bit it."

"Too bad, it's mine now." She said, eating even more of it. "Is it cold out?"

Varyn shrugged. "A bit, but it's pretty muggy."

The albino then eyed him suspiciously. "Varyn if I look outside right now and see all our mugs on the porch or some shit I swear I am going to leave you."

The Celt failed to hide his grin as he sipped his coffee from a glass bowl.

Julia threw her arms into the air and stomped her way out of the kitchen. "I'm fucking done!"

She was stopped though as he called out to her. "Wait! Julia! I was kidding! I just thought what you said was funny!"

Prussia then immediately whipped around back at him. "Then why are you fucking drinking coffee from a bowl?"

Varyn hung his head low in shame at this. "I… I couldn't find a clean mug… we both forgot to run the dishwasher last night…"

"You couldn't clean one by hand?"

"I didn't think about making coffee until after starting the wash… so I improvised."

"And how many times have you spilled coffee on yourself by drinking it that way?"

He held his head even lower. "About four…"

Julia pinched the bridge of her nose. Some people said that she didn't use common sense sometimes or was just aloof; but Reikland… he takes it to a whole new level. It was one of the great mysteries of the world how the two of them together lived on their own without almost burning down the house daily.

"You know… you're a retard sometimes right?"

Varyn sighed depressingly. "Yeah… I know…"

Julia felt guilty, she didn't want to make him feel too bad, so she kissed his cheek. "But hey, you're my retard."

"Gee, makes me feel soooo much better."

As she sat back down, she took another piece of the toast that he made, which earned her a pouted face from the man. "Anyways," the Prussian said between bites, "Antonio called me last night-"

"Wait, who's Antonio again?" Varyn interrupted before he got lost.

"Spain, remember? He was at the party with us and the meeting. But yeah he called me and invited us along with Tim and Emma to go to an amusement park in Tarragona with Romano and his sisters next week, do want to go?"

"Yeah! It's better than staying here and trying to catch up on all the work I missed out on. Plus it's getting cold here, I hate the cold."

"Varyn, you've lived here your whole life, how are you not used to the cold?" She questioned.

"Well, I vaguely remember that I was okay with it awhile ago, but I think something happened to me that made me like the heat more."

Prussia thought for a moment about all that she had been through with the Nordic… was there anything? "Oh yeah, I mean, you did get stranded on an island in the Caribbean for like two years in the 1700's; maybe that affected you somehow…"

"Really? That sounds awful. But anyways, tell Antonio that we'll go."

Julia nodded and yawned while reaching her arms up to stretch. "Alright, I'll call him back later. But now I'm going to go back to bed."

"But you just woke up." The Celt retorted.

"Hey, don't judge my awesome sleeping habits."

"Didn't you say that sleep was for the weak two nights ago when you stayed up all night to play Call of Duty?"

"Varyn! I had to fucking wreck those noobs!"

Reikland turned away from the Prussian next to him and returned to his book. "You're a fucking dork."

 _a week later_

Varyn was disappointed to learn that even Spain was not that warm during this time of year, so he was currently searching through his closet for some slightly warmer clothes. As he was looking at one of his light jackets, he dropped it onto the floor of the back of the closet; however when he reached down to pick it up, he noticed a trunk that he hadn't noticed before, probably hidden underneath some clothes he forgot to clean up.

As he pulled the trunk out, he realized it must have been very old, as it was extremely dusty and worn down. Varyn blew off the dust that was on top and opened it. Inside there were pieces of older clothing that were folded on top of one another, none of which he recognized. He pulled out a black, white, and gold horizontally striped scarf from near the top and examined it. The material appeared to be old, but it was clearly high quality and had almost no tears or frays. The colours too were not too faded, and still looked rather vibrant despite the age. However, he still had no idea about the scarf itself; sure, it was the same colours as his flag and obviously had some sentimental meaning to it, but he didn't know where it was from.

"Hey Julia! Can you come here?"

He called the albino from the other room.

After a moment, she soon appeared in the doorway. "What is it?"

"Do you know what this is? Or where it's from?" He asked, holding up the scarf.

She smiled at the nostalgia. "Ah, you finally found that old thing. That is the scarf that Tim and Emma made for you when you still took care of them with Burgundy. They wanted to show their appreciation and gave it as a gift to you."

"Really?" He asked, "That's nice of them." But as he said this, Reikland was already slipping into a vision.

 _Antwerp_

 _1450_

Varyn saw his slightly younger self in a hallway, standing over what appeared to be children Belgium and The Netherlands, offering him the scarf. Emma however, seemed to be abashed at what Tim was currently saying.

"Timothy! You don't ask for money when you give someone a gift!" She shouted in frustration.

"Why not? I want to be paid for my work."

"You didn't even make that much of it!"

Reikland bent down and patted the girl's head, smiling sweetly. "Emma, sweetie, it's fine, I really like the scarf and appreciate your guy's hard work. Here, I don't mind paying the two of you for it."

Varyn then gave them both a few coins, Belgium was hesitant at first to accept the payment, but the Dutch boy shook his hand eagerly.

"Thank you for your business." And then he walked away with Emma chasing after him.

"Timothy! That's indecent!"

 _Back to present_

Varyn came back from his flashback with a grin on face "Wow, so he was stingy even back then?" He asked himself.

He then examined the fabric again. "Wait… so does that mean this is like… six hundred years old?"

"Oh, no, that was the original one, that one became worn out a while ago. This one is the one they recreated and gave to you as a gift for our wedding in 1721."

Varyn smiled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Oh yeah… that…"

Prussia frowned at her lover's misfortune that she caused. "You don't remember it do you?"

The Celt's grin also disappeared. "No… I'm sorry, but I don't…"

Julia hated to make the man feel guilty for something she had caused, so she tried to lighten the mood. "Eh, it's not that big of a deal, I'm to blame anyways; but it was pretty awesome, it was when our counties combined into Prussia-Reikland."

"Wasn't our union a failed state?" He asked.

"Yeah… turned out that we didn't work well under the same government… but hey, it was ambitious and the first dual monarchy in Europe, so we got that going for us."

"Wasn't the personal union between France and England near the end of the Hundred Year's War technically the first dual monarchy?"

Julia squinted at him as if he was some annoying bug she wanted to kill. "That doesn't count you nerd, Henry VI didn't have any real control over France, he was fighting the nobility for most of his reign, you could hardly call it a union anyways. So we're still the first!"

"You like to brag a lot don't you?" He teased.

The albino turned her back to him. "Shut up! Hurry up and pack, our flight leaves in a few hours."

Varyn gave her stiff salute. "Alrighty captain."

 _One week later_

 _Portaventura, Salou, Spain_

After coming through the main entrance of the theme park, the eight nations convened under a pavilion to discuss their next plans. It was here that Reikland was properly introduced to Catalonia, or Sofia, a lively girl who looked like a female version of Antonio. She had long brown hair that was wavy towards the end and green eyes like her two siblings. She seemed friendly enough, her attitude only turning sour when in the presence of Spain, that's when bitchy mode was activated. She also didn't seem as laid back as her brother and sister, probably because her region was rather prosperous. Varyn was then also reacquainted with Portugal, or Joana, who he only briefly met a few months ago at his first meeting. She was the weirdest of the three Iberians, being the most energetic yet also the laziest, with a sharp tongue too. She also had green eyes, but her hair was much darker and wilder than both Antonio and Sofia. From his first impression of her, Varyn could only compare her to Julia in personality, for the Portuguese woman seemed very outgoing.

After the introductions were passed around for the Nordic still suffering from memory loss, the group decided what to do next.

"This place better be worth it for how much it cost to get in." The Netherlands complained, crossing his arms.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that much." Antonio tried to reason.

"Are you kidding me? The prices are abhorrent! I would never pay this much normally! No wonder your economy is so bad considering how you operate prices around the country."

The Spaniard slumped his shoulders. "You didn't have to make it personal."

"Oh shut it Timmy. Is the thought of spending a little extra just to spend time with us so detestable to you?" Joana said. She then scoffed, "Besides, you'd probably just waste the money on pot or something anyways."

Tim gritted his teeth at the woman who was the bane of his existence. But he sighed when he realized that he probably would have done just that. He had even brought his pipe with him to this place.

"Whatever. Now that we're all here, what should we do first?" He asked.

There were various opinions from the group, with some wanting to go to the water park first, some wanting to get food, and Romano wanting to check into their hotel first to gets things situated; however, it was Varyn's suggestion that most of them agreed with.

"Why don't we try the Hurakan Condor first? I've heard it's super scary and you get a great view of the whole park."

Tim was the only one against this idea, and he made it known when he pulled the Reikish man aside from the group. "The drop tower? Varyn, I'll excuse you from not knowing because of what happened, but I'm not really great with heights."

"Hah!" The Nordic laughed, elbowing the Dutchman teasingly. "Didn't think a tall guy like you would be afraid of heights! Is it because you're a 'low country'?"

Tim was not appreciative of his joke. "Varyn I will light my pipe and shove it up your ass."

Reikland smirked. "Kinky."

"Fuck you."

Eventually however, despite his mockery of the man, the Celt managed to persuade him to go, and the group experienced the 85 meter drop together, screaming their heads off. There was a preeminent warning of vomit from the Dutchman during the ride, but a threatening by Romano to castrate him quickly dispersed these urges.

While waiting in line for another ride, with the other nations farther in the line, Varyn quietly pulled aside his 'son' for a talk.

"So Timmy boy, Julia here tells me that you and Joana had the hots for eachother way back when."

"Yeah, we did, and still do in a way, what off it?"

"Well, I want to know about it, what was it like between you two?"

Tim thought for a second before answering. "Have you ever seen Mr. and Mrs. Smith?"

"Yeah."

"It's a bit like that. We fight each other and butt heads all the time… but we kinda always make up in the end…" he drifted off.

"Ahh, sounds exciting. Joana seems like a woman who can really give you a run for your money."

The lighter blonde sighed. "You could say that."

"Were her and I friends? I feel like she's someone I could likely get along with well."

"Yeah, you two liked to tease me a lot together and you had some trading policies set up together, but you did fight with her a couple times. She's almost to you what I am to Julia."

Varyn nodded slightly. "I see." He then turned his head at the line moving. "But we're almost on the ride now, let's go.

 _*Le time skip*_

About an two hours and many rides later, the group decided to settle down for a bit and try some lighter stuff. That was when Antonio spotted one of the water-shooting arcade games and told Romano that he would win him a prize, much to the Italian's displeasure.

"Antonio don't waste your money on that, the prizes are so childish."

"Ah don't worry Romano! We can share the prize if you don't like it that much!"

And so, the Spaniard paid the man running the game and got into position. When the bell rung that indicated the start, Antonio took aim and began to fire at the target, slowly but steadily advancing the meter that showed his progress. Despite it being a child's game and rather cold out, precipitation soon ran his face as he continued to fire with determination to win.

When he was about to finish, with only seconds left, however, the bell rung to announce a winner.

"What?" He questioned, "But I'm not finished yet."

The man running the game gave a slight snort of laughter. "No, you aren't." He then jerked a thumb to the right. "But he is."

The group then turned their eyes to see Tim standing at the very end of the row over a water gun with a blank expression.

"I'll take that one." He said to the stall man, pointing at the largest teddy bear there.

Even though it was huge, the bear looked not too big compared to the tall man, who then walked over to Joana and handed it to her. "Here babe."

The Portuguese woman smirked sadistically at her brother's misfortune. "Ahhhh, thanks Timmy." And planted a kiss on his cheek.

Antonio on the other hand was on his knees, reeling from his failure. "How did I not notice him? Why does he try to beat me at everything?"

Romano, still retaining the same bored expression since the game started, looked at Sofia who nodded at him. Together they walked over to Spain and crouched to reach each of his ears. "You're a fucking disappointment." They whispered is unison.

Antonio broke into soft tears.

 _*Le yet another time skip*_

Later on, after more rides and a bite to eat, Emma convinced the group to go into a clothes shop to look around. While the girls (plus Antonio) decided to try on some clothes, Romano and Varyn (Tim had to pee) sat outside the changing rooms rather awkwardly, as most of the clothes here were for women.

"Hey Varyn, do these pants look good on me?" Prussia asked him, stepping out of a changing room with a pair of skinny jeans.

"Hmmmm… they do… but you'd look even better with them off." Reikland joked.

Julia winked at him. "Oh you know it baby."

"Oh my god shut the fuck up, we are in public." Romano interrupted irritably.

The albino gave an annoyed 'hmph!' before turning to go change again, whispering "buzzkill." as she walked away.

The dirty blonde chuckled lightly before seeing Sofia talking to Joana, which made a question form in his mind.

"Oh yeah, Italy, I was wondering something." He started, looking at the tanned man besides him.

"What did you call me?"

"Uh, Italy?"

Romano sat silent for a moment, making the Reikish man curious.

"Is that not right? Isn't that what people call you?"

The shorter man sighed before speaking. "The name 'Italy' is almost always reserved for my younger brother, I honestly can't remember the last time I was called that by someone."

"That hardly seems fair, don't you represent half the country?"

" _Si_ , yet less than a quarter of the population. My lands are hardly deemed important to the history of our country, so I am often overshadowed by Feliciano."

Varyn could tell that the Italian man was troubled by this and did not want to talk about it, so he decided to ask his original question.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but don't worry Romano, I'll never treat you unequally to him. But anyways," he continued, "I wanted to ask about Sofia; what is… or was your relationship with her? Because if she used to represent the Kingdom of Aragon, doesn't that mean she ruled over you before Antonio did?"

"Well, you're right about that; I guess I would consider her to be an older sister figure to me. Despite how she acts around Spain, she really is a sweet and caring woman, and the two of us always like to annoy him so we get along well. Sadly one of the few people I can say that with."

"Were we not good friends?" Reikland questioned.

The Italian looked a little puzzled. "Varyn… the only connection I had to you was that you knew my Grandfather… we barely knew each other until World War Two; and if you can guess; I wasn't too happy about being apart of the Axis."

Reikland felt a little embarrassed for assuming that his past self was friends with everyone. "Oh… I guess you're right…" But he then gave a slight grin. "Well maybe we can get to know each other better now." And then extended his hand.

This came as a surprise to the dark haired man, usually people were rather uninterested in him or turned off by his more negative attitude; yet here Varyn was right in front of him, offering friendship. In any normal situation, he probably would have rejected to proposal, but for some reason he felt urged to accept. Romano looked again at the Nordic's grin and then took his hand into his own.

At that moment though, Antonio came out of one of the dressing rooms and saw the exchange between the two men. "What?! Nooooo! Romano you're not cheating on me are you?!"

The Italian then lurched forward angrily punched the Spaniard in the gut. "As if we were ever together!"

After the exchange between the two southerns, and after everyone was done shopping, the group started to depart, but as they were exiting, something that Varyn hadn't noticed before caught his eye.

"Hold on a second guys." He said quickly, rushing to buy the item.

When he returned with his own shopping bag, the group looked at him oddly.

"What did you buy?" Asked Emma.

The dirty blonde smiled and took the object out of the bag, placing it on top of Julia's head for everyone to see.

It was a yellow bird hat.

The albino gave a surprised yet ecstatic shriek and hugged Reikland. "Oh my god Var thank you! How did I not notice it before?! This is perfect! I love it!"

Varyn's grin grew wider. "I knew you would."

She wore it almost daily for the rest of the winter after that.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

-Panic! At the Mountain side-

130's A.D.

Lasatium, Askroltia

"Your hair is longer." The woman observed, leaning towards the man at his desk.

"Yes, I grew it out." The younger of the two responded, not looking up from his writing.

"It's so wavy and messy." She commented, running her hand through it.

"I know. It gets that way even when it's shorter you know."

"I like it, it looks kind of wild and yet also contained."

"Thank you." The dirty blonde man said through gritted teeth.

"You should let me braid it."

"How about no."

"Oh come on, that's what some of the men in my lands do. At least let me tie it back behind your head."

Finally fed up with the constant annoyances, Varyn turned around from his desk. "Astrid I am trying to work, must you keep disturbing me? Surely there is something you can do for at least right now?"

There was a brief hurt expression from the Scandinavian, but it was soon replaced by one of enmity as she knitted her eyebrows at him. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm such a bother to you when _you_ were the one who invited me here. You know, you'd think that if someone wanted another person at their home, they would actually want to do something with them."

Askroltia sighed as he realized his fault; he put down his stilus to address the woman who had done nothing wrong. "I guess you're right…" He was still getting used to how much attention this woman needed.

Astrid crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and turned away from him. "Aren't I always?"

Varyn then rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I guess I can save my work for later… what do you want to do?"

She peered one eye open to look at him. "You decide; _I'm_ the guest here."

"Uhhhh…" he said absentmindedly, "how about _ludus latrunculorum_?"

The platinum blonde gave out a laborious sigh. "Varyn, when I told you to decide, I meant something not stupid."

"Hey! It's a fun game! I've tried to explain it to you but you don't ever pay attention! I told you that if you just watch me as I show you how to play, then it won't seem so difficult."

"But that's so boooooring. Can't we go outside and do something exciting? We could go fishing, horseback riding, boating, hunting, swimming, practice fighting, race each other, and literally anything else, but instead you just want to sit inside and play some dumb game that is confusing to anyone who hasn't spent hours trying to learn it!"

"Well if you were so adamant about what you wanted to do, why did you want me to decide?"

"Because I didn't want to force you to do anything," she said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the study. "But now I am; we are _not_ going to play some boring ass _ludis laturn_ -whatever bullshit."

Wanting to irk her, Varyn said snobbishly: "It's called _ludus latruncu-"_

"Shut the fuck up." Astrid interrupted; he couldn't see her face, but he could tell that she was glaring at him with her womanly wrath.

"Sorry." He quickly apologized, letting himself being taken outside by the woman who was easily just as strong as him.

 _*Le time skip*_

Having decided to go hiking, and with Varyn's suggestion to travel to a somewhat nearby coastal mountain to witness the sea, the two traveled eastbound by boating upriver to a village at the base of the mountain, where they then began up the steep slope by horseback.

As they left the grey plumes of smoke arising from the peaceful village, just waking up in the pre-morning sunlight, Astrid yawned.

"Why did we have to leave so early? It's hardly dawn. I wanted to sleep in."

"Because, it will take us at least half the day to get to the point I want to reach, and I want to get there with plenty of time to stay for a bit in the daytime when you can see out to the sea."

The grey eyed man then childishly chuckled to himself. "Heh, that rhymed."

The Scandinavian rolled her eyes and smiled at his dumb humour. "Well then, we'd better get going then huh?" She asked, already kicking her steed lightly to get it to begin walking.

The horse however didn't appreciate this and bucked, almost throwing the blonde off. Varyn grinned at this. The woman whipped her head towards him."Shut up! I know I'm not good with horses! I don't use them that much in my lands!"

"I didn't even say anything."

She glared at him accusedly. "You thought it."

It was the Celt's time to roll his eyes. "Whatever." He then fluidly started off with a simple touch of his hand to the horse's backside.

"Show off." The woman muttered.

After about an hour, with the sun starting to peer over the horizon, Astrid was already starting to get bored with the silence between them. "Can't we talk or something? Just riding a horse is kind of boring."

Varyn was quiet for a few moments before responding. "You were the one who wanted to go outside to do activities, enjoy it." He then turned his head to look out across the vast expanse of hills, streams, and forests already spread out before them despite not being too high up yet. The green and blues of the land being accentuated with light in the pale brightness of dawn. "You should appreciate the beauty of the landscape, this is the most peaceful and relaxing time of day; can't we just sit in silence for a while and take it all in?"

With her not responding, Varyn smiled as he succeeded in extending this tranquil moment of silence. With the Roman rule in his lands, work needed to constantly be carried out to ensure this new stability remained, leaving the Celt with not much time to fully enjoy himself and relax with moments like these. It felt so good to push his responsibilities behind him for just a little while and take in the beauty that constantly surrounded him.

His peaceful trance was broken seconds later as Astrid spoke again. "Alright, enough of that; let's start talking, 'cuz I'm bored."

Varyn pinched the bridge of his nose in irritance and sighed heavily; there was no preventing her from speaking constantly. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?" He asked miserably.

"Well, I've been wanting to ask this for awhile now…" She paused for a moment, causing Varyn to look back at her, "But do you miss the times before you were under Romulus' rule… when you were free?"

The question surprised him, usually the Scandinavian didn't like to talk about Rome, as the topic seemed to upset her. It took him a moment to respond as he actually wasn't quite sure of the answer. "I mean… I guess I do and I don't… It was nice when we were younger and all independent and what not, free to do our own things... but I also believe that being apart of the empire has been a great thing for my people; thinking back now I almost feel foolish for resisting for so long."

Astrid didn't say anything after this, making Varyn glance at her again. There was a slight pained contortion on her face, that made him worried.

 _Why does she not like me being under Rome so much?_

The platinum blonde however quickly returned to her normal smiling expression. "Sorry, I guess that was a weird question, I'll ask about something else."

The two then went on to gossip about their friends and their opinions of them, sharing jokes and rumors that they had heard.

After just laughing from a joke, Varyn wiped his eyes from tears. "Say Astrid, I don't get you and Burkhard."

"What do you mean?"

"You two are siblings, yet like opposites in personalities; he's overbearing, cold, and intimidating. While you're friendly, playful, energetic, and adventurous."

The Scandinavian grinned. "Awww, thanks Varyn." She then drew close behind him, pulled out her sword, placed it on his neck, and smirked menacingly, all in one fluid movement. "But are you saying I can't be intimidating?"

The Celt held his breath as the cold metal touched his skin. "N-No ma'am." He stuttered while smiling nervously.

She then put her sword away and went back to her original position. "Good."

The two were silent again for a bit before Astrid asked another question. "Hey Varyn, what do you think about Aestii?"

"The Baltic woman? I think I've only met her like two, maybe three times."

"Yeah, but any impressions of her? She's a friend of mine, I don't know why though, she seems to love to pick on me."

Askroltia thought for a second. "Well… she seems to be a very calm, collected, and kind woman. Plus, I would say that she's rather good looking."

"But surely not more attractive than me right?"

"Maybe a little." he teased, but he didn't mean it; Astrid had grown into being an extremely gorgeous woman over the years, there was no one who could compare in his eyes. "But why do you care? Are you jealous?"

She scoffed at this. "Are you kidding? Me? Jealous?"

"You're totally jealous right now."

"I am not!" She shouted, beginning to blush.

The dirty blonde smiled at how easily the woman was to get flustered. "Are to."

"Shut up!" She was about to pick up a rock at hurl it at him, but then remembered what happened the last time she tried that, and let it fall to the ground.

Varyn noticed this and laughed. "Hah! You're learning."

"Fuck you."

 _*Le time skip*_

"So, did you hear about Romulus' engagement to Helena?" Varyn inquired. It had been almost two hours since they had last had a conversation, and he could tell that the blonde woman was again getting bored in the monotony of their trip.

"Oh yeah, I got wind of that a bit ago. So that idiot is finally settling down with one woman? He's not also getting married to Egypt, Gaul, and Illyria too? Gosh I don't know how those women fall for him."

"Yeah… but it seems like it. I mean, anyone could guess that if Romulus had to choose someone, it would be her."

Scandinavia nodded. "True, true… Greece was one of the places that he most bound on conquering. I can see why with how beautiful Helena is."

"Yeah, she was always first for him. You're coming though, right?"

"Why would I? I haven't been invited."

"Astrid, everyone one of us is invited, friend or foe of the empire alike." He said in an amused tone. She should have already known this.

"What? That's news to me. Why is he doing that?"

"I think he said something along the lines of that, with it being such an important event that will go down in history, that everyone would be begging to come, so to save the time and effort of answering to everyone individually, that'd he'd just invite us all instead."

"Dang… always an egotistical bastard isn't he?"

"I'll drink to that." Askroltia replied nonchalantly.

She looked at him accusedly. "You don't drink."

"It's just a metaphor…"

"Indeed it is, and not one that should be tossed around casually by lightweights like yourself." The woman joked.

"Alright." He said immediately. "I'm stopping it right here before I'm insulted even more."

"Awwww." Astrid whined, while pouting at the same time. "But you make it so easy."

"The same to you; how does your horse under you feel?"

"Ugh, whatever." She grunted. "So when is it anyways, not soon I presume?"

"Nope, they agreed to not have it for awhile, just so that the word could get out to everyone and so they could plan such a big event properly. I doubt it will even be in the next decade, they're in no hurry."

This made the woman reflect on something she hadn't thought about for awhile. "It's sad to think that for us… a decade seems like only a few months or so. Probably will only feel like a moment before we are actually there."

Varyn nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah…"

"So anyways," The Scandinavian said, breaking the ensuing silence that was bound to occur between them. "Varyn… all this talk of marriage and all… trying to suggest something here?" She teased, smirking at the younger man.

The Celt raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, that you should find someone and leave me alone." He replied sarcastically.

"Har, har. Very funny." Astrid said blandly. "You know that you'd be a loner without me."

Varyn slumped a little in his saddle. "It's sad to think that that's probably true."

"Most definitely true."

He was about to respond until he decided she was right. "Damn." he said after a second. "Reality hurts."

"Indeed it does, but my reality right now is that I'm starving, are we going to eat soon?"

He nodded. "Uh, yeah, I was about to ask if you wanted to."

"Varyn, please, you don't need to ask if I want to eat; the answer will almost always be yes."

"Pig." He whispered under his breath.

"What was that?"

Varyn then immediately snapped his head up. "N-N-Nothing.." There was a slight pause between the two as he gave the fakest smile he could at her.

"Sure…"

 _*Le another time skip*_

After the two found a good spot to settle down for lunch and unpacked some of their supplies, Varyn started to prepare their meal.

"Mmmm. Smells good." The older girl said as the sent of frying bacon reached her.

Astrid then leaned backwards on the log she was sitting on with a heavy sigh as she stretched out and relaxed her muscles from the many hours of riding. "Nice to know a man who can cook." She remarked as she watched the dirty blonde prepare the food. "Too often that task is left for the ladies."

"You're no lady." Varyn retorted through gritted teeth. "Don't you think you could help me?"

The violet eyed woman decided to ignore the insult and tease him. "Ah, but where would be the fun in that? Watching you serve me food makes me feel like I'm properly being cared for."

"If you don't help then the only one being served food will-."

"Okay I'll help!" She jumped up, rushing to him. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know..." Varyn grumbled, he hadn't actually expected her to offer assistance, so he was just now looking for something for her to do. "Uh… why don't you chop the onions we that have?"

Astrid wrinkled her nose. "Ew, onions? Why do we have those?"

"Because they are good for you and taste fine when mixed with other things; gosh you sound like a child sometimes."

The platinum blonde punched his arm. "Hey, might I remind you who's older here?"

Varyn pretended to ignore the pain in his arm that was throbbing, _damn this woman is strong_ , and lifted his nose up at her. "Might I remind _you_ of the time you said 'the age difference between us isn't that big of a deal for people like us'?"

The Scandinavian sheepishly turned her head away. "Yeah… I did say that…"

"Indeed you did. Now chop those onions."

 _*Le yet another time skip*_

"Ah, a little later than I had hoped, but we finally made it." Varyn remarked as the two rounded the final corner to their destination. It took longer than expected to reach the spot, mainly from the paths being muddy from recent rains that slowed their horses, but also due to Astrid burning the onions she was in charge of and almost spreading a fire to the entire mountain side.

"So this is it huh?" The violet eyed woman asked as she followed behind on her horse.

"Yup, come on down and get closer to the edge, the view on this outcrop is amazing." He beckoned, gracefully dismounting and walking towards the cliffside he had been to many times.

Astrid had a much more difficult time climbing down from her steed, much to the Celt's amusement, which was quickly halted by a furious glare. "So what's the big deal about this cliff side anyways?"

"Take a look for yourself." Varyn motioned for her to come closer as he disappeared into the bushes, as you couldn't see what view lay ahead of them from the trail.

The Scandinavian scurried over to where the dirty blonde had gone, scratching herself on the low lying branches. As she came out from the bushes, she was alarmed by the sheer drop of the outcrop and how small it was, almost falling over it, only saved by a quick hand from Varyn next to her.

"Whoa, careful now. I wanted you to experience the view, but not _that_ much."

"Ha ha," she blandly laughed, "very fun-" her sentence was cut short as she finally looked out to what he had been wanting to show her.

It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't back home.

The mountain they were on was just one of many surrounding a large inlet of the sea, which curved and etched its way into the land. There were hills along the water too, with many drop offs like the one they were on right now. As she peered over the edge, Astrid noticed that it would be a hard fall. Besides that, the land was thriving in the late spring heat with lush grass and wildflowers covering the region, with dense forests farther inland. The contrast of the green and purple of the flora with the grey and white of the mountain tops and the blue of the water, all with the red and orange of the sunset made for a stunning sight.

"O-Oh my gosh Varyn!" She said excitedly, grabbing his wrist. "These are just like the _fjǫrðr_ I have back home! Why didn't you tell me your lands had some too?" She then thought to herself for a moment. "Wait, how have I not known about this? I've traveled along your coastline a number of times, I'm sure I wouldn't have missed this!"

The Celt simply shrugged. "Eh, many people don't come her, rough terrain and not the most ideal to settle down, and it's a bit hard to notice from the sea, so you wouldn't be able to see it even if you looked right at it. And…" he grounded his boot into the gravel at their feet. "I wanted to surprise you one day. Since you seem to like visiting me so often, I thought it would be nice to show you something to remind you of home."

The older woman was in awe. "Varyn… I don't know what to say… this is all so beautiful… thank you so much." And with that she embraced her slightly taller friend.

Varyn hugged her back, but he seemed almost hesitant. "U-Uh… you're welcome."

 _What is this reaction?_ She thought, _He isn't nervous is he?_

No, that wasn't possible, Varyn was never nervous, never around her at least, he usually seemed level-headed. This made the blonde worried about something she brought up before. She let go of him and instead sat down on the cliff face, her legs dangling over the side.

"Uh, Astrid? What's wrong?" He questioned concernedly.

The Scandinavian remained silent as she stared at the brilliant expanse before her.

"Varyn... you don't think I'm annoying right?" She finally asked.

He looked down at her sitting figure in surprise. "What? Of course not!"

"Really?"

"Well… maybe a little." She glared at him. "I-In a good way I mean!" He said quickly.

Astrid gave out a sigh and looked away from him.

"But, uh, why are you asking?"

"It's just that Aestii seems to think so. Something I hear from her every time I visit."

"What? Why would she say that?"

"Oh, she's always scolding and mocking me, it's a thing we always do whenever we're together; though more emphasized on my side."

Varyn sat beside her on the edge. "Why would you want to be friends with someone like that?"

"Well, she is one of my only friends besides your sister and you. I mean, I'm not to close with my brother, and my lands are very far from everyone else, so I try to be friendly with anyone that's close enough, which includes her."

"Astrid, I'm not trying to dictate your life or anything, but you don't need to put up with anyone who puts you down all the time, even if it's just jokingly. Someone as wonderful as you doesn't deserve-" he then stopped, realizing what he was saying.

The platinum blonde was taken aback at first, but soon grinned from ear to ear. "What? What were you going to say?"

Varyn quickly turned his head away from her. "Hahahaha! Nothing…"

She then grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Tell meeeeee!"

The Celt was now rubbing the back of his neck as his face began to flush. "Uh, I'd rather not."

"Oh come on!" She persisted, shaking him more violently. "You can't just leave me hanging like tha-" She didn't get to finish her sentence however, as she noticed that Varyn was no longer beside her, but rather falling off the edge.

Panic ensued as she realized that her teasing shoving of him had caused this, and she rapidly jumped up to help her friend who was about to plunge to the rocky ground below.

"Varyn!" Astrid shouted as she reached her hand out to grab him. She then quickly spotted a thick vine growing on the outcrop and latched onto it with her other hand, supporting herself and ensuring that she didn't share the same fate. Varyn's body was now facing towards her, terror in his eyes from the threat of falling as he scrambled to take hold of her hand. As the distance between their fingers drew closer and closer, ready to grasp each other, Astrid saw him slip, and then disappear from her view.

"VARYN!" The woman cried out desperately as her heart lurched out of her chest in fear. She hurried to the ledge to look down, only to see the man clinging to a small branch a few feet below, the only thing preventing him from a deadly freefall.

"I'm okay… thank you branch." He said as his feet dangled to the rocks far underneath him.

Astrid sighed deeply and let her body recover for a moment from the shock of what happened. "Oh dear gods, Varyn. You gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry about that… could you lend me a hand?" He asked casually.

The branch then shifted, faltering under his weight. "Soon please?" He called again from below her, a little more high pitched this time.

When he was finally back on safer ground thanks to her aid, Varyn brushed himself off from the dust and dirt he had gathered from his near fall. As he finally looked up to see the platinum blonde though, he was surprised as she rushed to embrace him with death-grip tightness.

"Whoa there, easy Astrid, don't want to do that all over again."

Though after she didn't respond, instead burying her face into the crook of his neck, he began to feel embarrassed. "Uh, Astrid?"

When her violet eyes finally met his own, he noticed a few tears where running down her face as she gave him a furious scowl. "Don't you ever fucking scare me like that again! Do you know how terrified I was at seeing you seemingly fall off that edge?! I almost fainted!"

He rolled his eyes. "Imagine being on the other end of it."

This only earned him an even worse look by the Norse woman. "Varyn I'm being serious, don't do that to me. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You're making it sound like it was my fault."

"Well if you only told me what you were originally going to say, this wouldn't have happened."

He put his hands to his hips. "Really? You're not going to take any of the blame?"

"Alright, alright, I may have gotten a little _too_ excited, but besides that, I nearly had a panic attack!"

"I just don't get why you're getting so worked up by it, it's not like my life was in danger."

"You don't know that! Have you ever received damage to yourself that would have caused a human to die?"

Varyn found it hard to maintain eye contact. "Uh… I don't think so…"

"Exactly! We may heal faster and what not than humans, but we don't know if we can't die!"

The Scandinavian then sighed. "All I'm saying is that I was worried for you okay? Yes it was my fault but please don't put yourself in danger, please? I honestly don't know what I would do if you weren't in my life."

The dirty blonde grinned. "Alright Astrid, just try not to kill me next time."

She punched his arm hard. "Moron." The older woman then once more sat down to grumpily stare out at the sunset.

He was still rubbing his arm in pain as he sat next to her and join in her viewing.

"But hey…" She muttered, her knees brought to her chest. "You weren't being serious when you said that Aestii was more attractive than me right?"

Varyn raised one eyebrow at the blonde. "Ah, so I see you were jealous."

Astrid opened her mouth to protest but he interrupted her. "But no, I was not serious. You're much too beautiful to be compared to."

"Wow, way to be subtle." She said, trying to sound casual. She was grateful for the fading daylight, as the Celt would not be able to notice the blush on her face.

"Hey, I was just stating the obvious."

"Were you now?"

"For anyone with eyes at the very least. But man, no thank you for that? Very appreciative." He remarked.

"Why should I be? You were ' _just stating the obvious'_."

He chuckled. "Too true, too true…"

Translations:

Fjǫrðr: Ancient Norse for 'fjord'


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

-Prelude-

Autumn, 1377

Off the coast of Reikland

Floorboards creaked as the heavily-built man walked up the stairs to the top deck the ship. As he stepped out into the fresh ocean air, he saw the dirty blonde man lean on the railing, staring out to the waters around him. Approaching him, he wrapped an arm around the other man's shoulder and clapped his back with a hefty hand.

"Oh come on Varyn, you've taken on such a negative mood lately, you getting so worked up about this is even starting to get me worried."

The Celt didn't acknowledge him, continuing to look to the sea. "You should be worried, your kingdom is currently under threat by foreigners seeking to force their rule upon it, with nearly no resistance at the moment. Do you know how horrible this could turn out?"

"You're overreacting." The taller man shrugged.

"Am I Karl? Remind me just how many of _our_ towns, villages, forts, _and_ castles have been taken over and plundered by Scandinavian forces during our absence?"

The King sighed, his expression drooping. "As of our most recent reports…" he started, ready to list off the many names, "Deówayth, Lótharah, Lijná, Navlo, Dun Armén, Glen Laoghaíre, Elasävnä, Sœymddyn, Brazherdórth, Llandrærth, Vlautinheim, Dun Armægh, Tråvlo, Gëirfoastrønd, Jørundärfjelld-"

"Alright! Alright!" Reikland interrupted. "That's… enough. Do you now understand how dire this situation could be?" The man then placed his head into his palms in irritation. "Why… why did we have to alleviate the siege at Ewloe? Your little 'detour' which took three months may have costed us the security of your throne!"

"Because! We made a promise to Owain that we would help him! Leaving those men to fend for themselves at that crumbling 'castle', if you could even call it that, would have been a death sentence! And I am not one to go against my word, which, if you may not have known, overrides yours!"

Varyn stared at the man. He had to admit, he _had_ shaped into an honourable man… and father, maybe Emrys and Grecoff will have a good role model after all…

However… his actions may have cost him the chance to be one…

"Are you willing to to risk your entire kingdom for the lives of a few?"

Karl stared back at him with the same intensity. "If it means keeping a promise… then yes."

The Nordic slumped his head back into his hands. "Oh don't worry, you'll be able to make as many promises as you'd like... if you manage to keep your head on your shoulders throughout all of this that is."

The taller man's cold expression lightened as he softly grinned. "Hey, that should be easy, you know I'm one of the best men in all of Europe when I'm on the field. You'll see, in history, they'll hardly call this a war, just a minor conflict that 'Karl The Great' was able to solve effortlessly without losing a single battle."

The grey eyed man winced. "Don't be too cocky. You never know what could happen. One minute, you're unstoppable, the next, you're lying on the ground in a pool of your own blood. Always assume that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

"Way to encourage me… I was just trying to gather some much needed morale."

The ship lurched under their feet as they hit a rough wave, nearly sending the two men overboard. "God damn seas are turbulent today." Reikland muttered. "But you're going to need morale alright; considering we are alone in this effort. Scotland and Wales are still caught up with England, the Teutonic Order can't join any wars but their own, and the Duke of Burgundy will not be able to send aid, it is too early into our alliance and he doesn't even have sea access to send any forces over. Not to mention the added thorn in our side of the Pan-Nordic sympathizers sprouting among our nobles who want to join the damn Kalmar Union for God's sake."

"Right…" Karl said, stroking his beard. "Remind me to make a list of all the traitorous noblemen; I'll have each publicly executed when this ordeal is over."

"Rightfully so." Varyn muttered. "If we even win this…"

The king clapped him on the back once more, almost sending the dirty blonde overboard. "Oh would you stop being so pessimistic! This isn't like you! You know your attitude will affect those around you and not for the better!"

The Nordic eyed Karl uneasily. "Sorry… things just usually don't happen to go in my favour very often."

"Well maybe you'd better try to see that it does this time; if not for me, do it for my sons at least. They are both in potential danger right now."

"Remind me whose idea was it to put an antsy sixteen year old in charge of an entire _frostradt_ of men?"

"Hey, Emrys might be a little… pugnacious, but he has heart. I think he'll be a great leader one day and this is just the experience he needs! And with any luck he could even become a national hero! You know, win a battle or two, rumor spreading of the dashing and young prince saving our lands from invaders; it could do wonders for his future!"

"Or get him killed."

Karl sighed at the man's negative outlook. "Well… that's why we need to do our hardest to prevent that and win this war quickly. The longer the Scandinavians are allowed to have a presence in our lands… the worse it will be for us."

" _Jah, Jah_ , I know. You'd just better hope that Grecoff is safe in the capital, the boy is merely a child and can't defend himself if things take a turn for the worse."

"Aye… that's what I'm afraid of more." Karl said grimly, slamming his fist onto the railing. "Dammit! Can't this ship go any faster?!"

"Relax, he has his bodyguards with him, and I can see the coast from here, we'll probably make landfall by tomorrow morning."

The King stared out with desperation to the distant land that held both his sons. "I hope that's true… every second we waste is precious."

"Exactly… that's why I wanted to bypass Ewloe and get our asses back home as soon as possible."

Karl gritted his teeth.

Varyn noticed this and decided it was better not to push the taller man any further than he already had, he had worried him enough already. Instead he smiled and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Anyways, like you said, time is precious, and in this case that applies to my stomach; how about we get some food?

As his previous irritance faded away, the king grinned weekly at his most trusted advisor. "That's sounds nice to me."

 _Five months later_

 _Spring, 1378_

Karl and Varyn sat under the King's pavilion, studying a map of their lands together. "So, now that the Danes have been forced entirely from Ouslünd, we can focus more on driving them past the Jotyn, which has finally thawed out, cutting them off from their base in Lótharah."

"That's a good idea…" Reikland responded, "but I'm still nervous about how well things are going, it's almost as if they are letting us take back land from them. Plus, I haven't even see Mathias in any of the skirmishes we've been in; what if they're planning on something big?"

"Ha! As if! Those spineless bastards don't have the gall! The only reason they invaded was because I was off in Britain, and now that I'm back they're cowering in fear!"

The grey eyed man shook his head. "Something tells me that is not the case. You should never expect a victory so easily."

"Hey, the more you think about it, the more you'll believe it. Don't let toxic worries obscure your better judgment Varyn; we can't have paranoia among our top leaders."

"I'm not being paranoid, I'm just thinking cautiously. And with me having more experience, you should listen. Although it would be great to push them behind the Jotyn, I think it would pay off more to wait and not rush into things."

"Oh come on! You know I'm a man that can't stand being inactive! Our greatest ally is momentum! And besides, have I ever lost a battle in my life?"

"Well-"

"Have I?" The King interrupted.

The dirty blonde sighed. "No, you haven't… but Karl, I swear this arrogance and aggressiveness will be the end of you."

He laughed and took a long drink of some wine beside him. "And what a glorious end it would be! To die with my brethren defending my lands, fighting till the very last!"

Reikland gave him a sinister look.

"I'm just kidding! Honestly, do you think I'd allow these dogs to run amuck in my kingdom? Anyways, there is no need to worry, these bastards don't have the coordination to carry out some large scale scheme, you've seen how readily they falter as soon as things don't go exactly as they plan. Also many of our men have two years of experience in battle from Britain! When was the last time the Scandinavians ever did anything?"

"That's a good point… but I still can't help thinking that something is awry."

"Oh would you stop worrying? You're starting to sound like my wife!"

"Maybe that's a good thing, Yennyfer is an intelligent and wonderful woman who you should feel lucky to have."

"Aye, I know… I couldn't manage my throne without her. Anyways, more about my family, I wonder how Emrys is faring." He turned to Varyn. "You haven't gotten any recent news have you?"

The dirty blonde shook his head. " _Nevess,_ only once since we first landed in autumn."

The king took another swig of his wine. "This is troubling…"

As if on cue, a young man interrupted the two as he rushed into the tent and addressed the King. "My Lord! I have urgent news for you! There is word from the North about your son!"

"Emrys? We were just talking about him, haven't received anything from him in a bit now. Tell me, how great was my son's victory that he was planning?"

The soldier looked at the ground uneasily. "Syr… there was no victory… Prince Emrys was defeated by the force of Norwegians. He was captured, his _frostradt_ nearly completely wiped out, and he is now in enemy hands."

The two men in the tent sat in silence as they absorbed this information.

"What you say is true?" Karl questioned.

The soldier bowed. "Yes, your Majesty."

"When?"

"About five days ago, word has only just now reached us, I came to inform you as soon as I could."

The king sighed. "Thank you lad for this information… you are dismissed."

At this, the young soldier bowed and left the two men to themselves.

Karl let his head fall into his hands. "Dear God…" he had yet another sip of alcohol. "What have I done?"

Varyn thought it best not to mention that he had told him before of the dangers of letting his son rush into battle. Instead, it might fare better to console him, "Hey, don't stress about it too much. We can't always have a perfect campaign, and his life won't be in any danger, they'll probably just send us a ransom offer soon; we can pay whatever they ask for."

The king looked up at the Nordic with a maddening smile. "Oh I'm not worried, it just gives me another reason to destroy these bastards."

 _Four weeks later_

Varyn sat on horseback atop a hill, staring out across the fields which were soon to run with blood. Karl had heeded his advice and waited to gain more information and organize his forces before attacking the Danes. It was soon discovered that they had set up a huge encampment at the river Jotyn, the waters, while having been thawed out since the winter, were still ice cold as they flowed from the mountains and served as a good defensive barrier.

"Well, they're certainly not stupid." He muttered to himself. He had been sent to scout ahead and see if there were any new developments in the camp, and with none being found, he turned his horse west to return to his forces.

As he arrived back at his own camp in the predawn light, he noticed the two guards sleeping at their posts, leaning on the palisade. As he made a mental note to find out what duke or baron they served, he walked up to the closest one, dismounted, drew the sword at his hip, and pointed it at the man. He then hit his helmet gently to wake him up. The soldier sprung up immediately, startled at the sudden interruption of his napping, only to find himself at the worse end of a blade. His eyes seemed to inflate as he then looked up to see his foe. The look of relief was obvious as he then recognized the man before him.

"O-Oh, I-It's just you Var- I-I mean Syr Fjøsson."

"Better me than a damn _Scjavel_ , _Jah_?" He mused, putting his sword back in its sheath.

"R-Right…heh..." The soldier laughed nervously.

He then stooped a bit lower to meet the man's eyes. "Now, remember what the most common punishment is for level two felonies such as falling asleep at your post?"

Fear seemed to totally enrapture the man before him as he swallowed hard. "Y-Yes…"

Varyn smiled. "Mind reminding me of what it is?"

"Uh… flogging by a woman…"

His smile widened. "Is it now? Now you wouldn't want that now would you?"

The soldier shook his head violently.

Reikland snickered and stepped away from him. "I thought not. Don't worry, I won't report you for this one instance, but I presume you understand my warning?"

He nodded violently this time. "Yes Syr! Thank you Syr!"

"Perfect." Varyn then walked to the second guard that was asleep and tripped his feet from under him. "Make sure your friend gets the message too."

At this, he remounted and trodded closer to the gate. "Now, mind opening the door for me?"

Upon entering the large camp the Celt made his way to the royal pavilion, where he saw one of the King's advisors, Lord Elrys, just exiting.

"Is the King ready to receive my findings?" He asked the man, one of the more shrewd members of the King's council.

"Ah, yes, just a moment please, he is currently finishing speaking with Duke Hremvåuld."

Varyn knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "Hremvåuld? Isn't he Swedish? Shouldn't he be with our foes across the Jotyn plotting against us?"

The man grinned. "Ah, you misunderstand my good Syr, not all men in Scandinavia see the Kalmar Union with a bright light, the Swedish less so than any; Duke Hremvåuld wishes to assist us."

"He traveled all this way to help us? Surely he doesn't gain _that_ much from the Union's defeat? It's not like it will fall apart as soon as they lose one war."

"I believe they are negotiating that, should the event arise that we drive the Union out of our lands, that we will return the favour and aid the Swedes in freeing themselves."

"Well that's… ambitious of him. But I assume Karl will take any help he can get, right?"

"Certainly, I do believe the two were wrapping things up on good terms."

Reikland nodded his head in appreciation. "Good to hear, Thank you for informing me in this."

The counselor returned the gesture as he began to walk away. "Always a pleasure."

Now that he was alone and had to wait, Varyn had to deal with the thing that was the bane of his existence.

Boredom.

 _Karl's P.O.V._

"Thank you Lord Hremvåuld, I look forward to seeing our cooperation in these changing times." The king said, shaking the man's hand.

"As am I, and thank you for giving me the chance to bring freedom to my people from the Danish yoke that has prevailed for much too long."

As the Swede and Karl's new ally exited the pavilion, the king was informed that Varyn was back from his scouting mission and waiting to report outside, so he quickly wrapped up his things from the aforementioned meeting and stepped out into the brisk spring air.

As he looked for the man, Karl spotted him idly stepping on ice and crushing it under his boots just outside the tent.

"Uh… why are you just stepping on ice?"

Varyn didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence, simply continuing to look at the ground. "Because it's satisfying."

"Uh, I guess…"

This brought his eyes to the king. "Oh come on, you never liked to crush ice as a child?"

"Exactly, as a child. Varyn, you're fourteen hundred years old."

He kicked a rock by his feet. "Fifteen hundred."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Karl looked at him oddly. "Anyways… you have your report for me?"

This finally broke the nation's childish attention as he stood straight and more professional. "Ah yes, that. We were correct in our estimates from two nights ago: there's no new activity, seems that the Danes have gotten used to their nice little riverside camp. Probably got too fat over the winter staying put that they couldn't even move out if they wanted to."

Karl stroked his beard as he took in this information. "Well, I guess that's good news, I think we can rule out the idea that they were planning some larger effort or whatnot, they've been there too long, would've had it go into effect by now."

Varyn couldn't help but be skeptical. "Maybe they're waiting for something? I mean the Jotyn only thawed out just a bit ago, maybe they're planning to use it?"

He dismissed the idea. "For what? This section of the river is too shallow for boats to ferry them out, and if they were waiting for the water to start rushing through again to escape to impede us from following them we could just easily build a bridge. Also, they could dam it, but like I said that would take awhile to finish, they would have started already."

"Yeah… I guess you're right. I never took that into consideration." He said, thinking over what course of action they should take. "So what now? Are you going to attack now?"

Karl shrugged. "As soon as possible, there's no sense in waiting, God knows we've done enough of that. And we both know that they won't attack us, we have to be on the offensive."

Reikland nodded in agreement. "Very true, but what tactic are you going to use? Anything special?"

The king shook his head. "Nothing much, just standard procedure: volleys of arrows first, catapults next, then cavalry charges followed by an infantry advance, and then cavalry flanking; hit them hard and consistently, never give them time to regroup or recover. Though I did think it would be a good idea to have some of our men on horseback be equipped with bows, like the Mongols and everything. The Scandinavians never fought them so they won't know how to react."

"Neither did we." Varyn interjected.

"Aye, but we had some informants study them for a bit and learn they're tactics, now we can use them against our foes."

"Alright then, though besides the Mongol idea, as none of us have ever performed it, I think it's a good plan, never a good idea to make it too complicated, the simpler it is, the easier it is to carry out. But now how does Hremvåuld fit into this?"

Karl grinned with slight embarrassment. "About that… I don't really know yet. My discussion with him mainly focused on actually agreeing to help each other, not exactly how we would do so specifically. We plan to meet in two nights to go over what role he will play in this battle. What I was thinking is that maybe he could convince whatever commander is in charge to let him hold his forces back a bit, you know spare his troops, and then when given a signal or something, like during a flanking charge, he would desert and flee, but then come back later in the battle and hit the Danes from the rear."

The Celt smirked. "That's pretty dirty, sounds great. You made him sign the _Vynin Contrádh_ , _fjun_?"

His majesty returned the smile. "Of course I did, can't ignore one of our oldest traditions; got his blood all over the contract along with mine. And if that bastard doesn't fulfill his end of the bargain, I can castrate him." He then laughed to himself. "Heh, that'll be fun."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that…" The Celt said uneasily. "Anyways, so now what will you have _me_ do?"

"Well I believe we both know how proficient you are in leading troops, so you, along with Duke Raewyn, will take command of four _frostradt_ of infantry in the front lines, plus your invincibility might scare the Danes right? Seeing a devilishly handsome man towering above them with blood all over him and seemingly fearless might give them quite the fright."

Varyn tipped his head. "I like the way you think."

Karl grinned. "You know, I like the way I think too." The king then draped an arm around the much older man's shoulder. "Now, let's talk this over with the other _argevyldeei_ alright? Got to have everyone's opinion heard."

"Amen to that, let's go."

Translations:

 _Frostradt:_ A Reikish military regiment of six hundred men

 _Nevess:_ Reikish for 'No'

 _Scjavel:_ A Reikish derogatory term for a Scandinavian

 _Vynin Contrádh:_ Literally 'blood contract' a traditional Reikish contract signed with blood, bounding the signers to both agree with the importance of lifeblood stressed upon. There are also severe consequences for any side that breaks the agreement (sometimes consisting of castration in older times)

 _Fjun_ \- correct/yes/right (usually used in question)

 _Argevyldeei:_ Reikish plural form of 'Leader/Commander/Lord'


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

-The Battle of the River Jotyn-

Spring, 1378

The sky was cloudy, heavy with rain and the imminent threat of a storm that was common during this time of year. Varyn once more looked out across the plains below him, soon hundreds of bodies would litter it and his kingdom's fate would be decided.

"You afraid?"

He turned to see his king ride up beside him, their horses trodding idly in place, as if they could sense the brewing tension. "Like any sane man." he said, inspecting his armour and gear for the third time that morning. There was silence between the two for a moment as they both took in the soon to be battlefield. Soon the Danish commanders and what looked to be Mathias could be seen from a distance out, ready to meet their entourage.

"Well I'm not. Let's get going, we have Danes to kill." Karl huffed bluntly, prodding his mount forward down the hill.

"Aye aye captain." He muttered, pulling his cloak up and following at a steady pace. As they reached the base of the hill and met up with the two other men Karl chose to ride with him, Varyn felt the need to go over things. "Remind me, how many men have we fielded?"

Duke Nyrøss counted off on his fingers silently. "About ten thousand and two hundred give or take; about eleven thousand and one hundred if you include Hremvåuld's men."

"Hmm, I wonder how many of them will actually be of use to us?" Duke Raewyn pondered.

"And what do you mean by that?" Karl inquired.

Raewyn scoffed. "Your Majesty, I would be surprised if the rumors about Count Kreïger being a Pan-Nordic sympathizer and planning to betray us have not reached you. I'm more surprised that you didn't take any action on the fact."

"It is not fact, Raewyn," He scolded, "I am well aware of the rumors, and I will not stand for a man being punished on loosely thrown accusations. His actions today will speak for himself, I trust that he is loyal to the crown."

Nyrøss tipped his head. "Well put M'lord."

"Oh shut up you kiss ass." Karl joked.

Varyn and Raewyn couldn't help but chuckle at the accurate statement until a look from the king told them to be quiet. "Shut the fuck up you two."

Raewyn's expression quickly turned sober as he ceased himself. "Yes your Majesty."

As they finally met up with the Kalmar entourage, Varyn saw Mathias on his horse with five men behind him and recognized Duke Hremvåuld as one of them, the man giving Karl an extremely subtle nod of acknowledgement. The Reikish king gave no affirmation in response, but that was probably for the best. When the two opposing groups reached within talking distance, Karl was the first to speak. "Guess there's no point in demanding any surrender, _fjun_?"

Mathias trodded forward, it was then that Varyn realized that the actual king of the Kalmar Union was extremely young and his mother who was in charge wouldn't take the field of battle, so Mathias would have been the overall commander of Scandinavian forces in this campaign. "You'd be right in that assumption, I plan to have a battle today, in which I will win. The hours of Reikland's freedom are limited."

Varyn couldn't help but internally snicker at his outrageous remark and stepped up to meet his fellow nation. "So Mathias, finally rearing your head in all of this? I had expected to see you in some of those skirmishes we had before, you love a good fight if I remember."

"Ah, Varyn, splendid to see you, I'm afraid I was busy organizing things these past few months, didn't really have the time to join in any of the petty hit and run operations you carried out; but hey can you believe it's already been just over three hundred years since my mother died? I mean dang time sure does fly."

The Celt was taken aback by his sudden statement. "Why would you bring that up?"

"Oh, just to explain my pretense for this war. It was my mother's dream to unite all of the Nordics, including you. I am merely pursuing that dream for her where she left off."

The two sat at odds of one another for a moment, the shorter Dane looking up at him smugly; then in one brief flash he smacked him across the face with his heavy metal gauntlet.

Mathias recoiled from the quick stunning blow and grasped his face in pain.

Varyn then looked down at the sad excuse for a man that claimed to be the son of Astrid. "You are a pathetic disgrace to your country and your mother. She never wanted this, not in this way, you of all people should know that, especially when you witnessed the anguish that resulted from her actions. Where she failed you will follow in her footsteps and painfully regret the day you ever stepped foot into my lands without just cause." He then turned his mount away from the emissaries and strode back towards the direction of his forces.

"I think we are done here, the battle will commence at noon."

And with both groups realizing nothing more was worth being said, they all turned their mounts away in opposite directions to prepare for the bloodbath that was to occur.

 _Four hours later_

The skies had began to open up and poured down upon the men ready to defend their homeland. Heavy thunder could be heard in the distance, but either way the battle would be carried out, no side would falter from bad weather, no matter how much they would want to.

Duke Raewyn appeared on Varyn's left, fully armoured and ready for combat. "Pretty awful out eh? I wouldn't be surprised if more men die of pneumonia and hypothermia than in battle this week. Wish this would be postponed, don't want to die because I slipped in mud and was stabbed or some shit like that."

He eyed the rather lighthearted man with confusion. "You know, you don't exactly have to be in the front lines right? That's what these hundreds of men under our command are for."

The dark haired man casually clapped him on the shoulder. "Ah, what kind of leader would I be then? These men need to know that they aren't just some pawns ready to be played and used carelessly, they need to see that their higher ups are supporting them full on."

The Celt took a moment to consider this. "I guess you're right, though be careful, also don't want them to see their leader dead upon the ground. But I wouldn't worry too much, you'd most likely be spared and taken for ransom. Emphasis on the most lik-" He was interrupted though as a horn blast was heard and the first volley of arrows could be seen streaking across the sky, ready to plunge themselves into their targets.

Raewyn grinned at him as he put his helmet on. "And so it begins, damn I wish we had a more defensive position than this fucking field."

Varyn chuckled as he followed suit and finished rechecking his gear, a lightning flash in the distance reflecting off his armour. "Ah where's the fun in that? Besides we have a bit of an incline on them, no need to worry." He then turned to the other man and shook his hand. "Hey, don't slip in mud and fight well."

He was given a thumbs up in response. "Will do."

 _One and a half hours later_

It was an uneventful start to a battle, with the archers having nearly exhausted their ammunition, amounting to very little as most fell short upon their adversaries or were blown off trajectory by the wind and rain. Neither side had the courage to advance their infantry yet either, not wanting to be the aggressors and losing their more defensive position and risk getting impeded by the weather.

This is what Varyn didn't want to happen, for both sides to be inactive and wait for the other to move. It was at that moment that a messenger arrived with a command from the king and he was saved from waiting any longer.

"King Karl wants you and Duke Raewyn to advance your infantry slowly, see if we can't coax the Danes to move from their position by the river and possibly hit them from the flank with cavalry."

As he was glad to finally have something to do, Varyn nodded in agreement and relayed the message to his sergeants to spread the word so his men would be ready when he gave the order.

" _AFHÁDH PROSS!_ " He commanded, his voice booming in competition with the deafening thunder in the distance. Far away to his left he could hear Raewyn repeating the command on his side. Nearly at once eight hundred shields were raised and put into a tight formation as all two thousand and four hundred men slowly began to march forward towards their enemy. Varyn, atop his horse, was satisfied as he gazed over his disciplined soldiers, confidence growing inside him.

They advanced gradually, not wanting to give up too much ground and be separated from their main forces or get tired from moving too fast. High above them a boulder from a catapult flew and crashed into the side of the Danish forces were they had previously estimated their generals would be positioned, it was a dirty tactic but they were willing to have any possible advantage over their enemy, especially with the muddied fields which they now had to march through.

 _We honestly should have waited for the weather to settl-_

"SKAITHHEI OP!"

Varyn heard the command interrupt his thoughts as he instinctively raised his shield at once, immediately he could hear a loud whooshing sound seconds before an arrow slammed into him, denting the metal of his shield and bruising his forearm.

 _Goddamnit, that could have incapacitated me for the rest of the battle… I need to pay more attention…_

Now clearing his mind of any distractions, he focused on actually leading his men into the most important battle in this campaign. As he stared across his ranks he was relieved that almost all the men had carried out the order, inflicting a negligible number of casualties upon them.

Even more to settle his worry, their tactic seemed to work, as the Danish front line of infantry began to advance to meet theirs, shields and spears at the ready. With this, the whole Reikish force gained momentum as the reserves and non-infantry moved up in the case of a surprise, able to reinforce and support the front line in a matter of seconds. Another catapult shot was heard, flying over them followed by a volley of arrows, this time crashing into a small part of the enemy front lines and crushing a considerable amount.

The anticipated horn blast was then only scarcely heard over the rain and Varyn prepared to commence their plan. He ordered his men to halt their marching and to stand ground in front of the Danes, the two lines standing only about a hundred yards apart. Soon the cavalry forces led by Duke Nyrøss could be seen at their right side, away for the beginning of the battle and only appearing at the signal. Nine hundred heavy war horses complete with mail armour and riders encased with plate and thick lances aimed forwards thundered across the field, their hoof beats resounding in the air despite the heavy rainfall with the metal of their armour gleaming and flashing whenever there was lightning.

It was a wonderful thing to not be the target of such a force.

As on cue, a small but important section of the Kalmar army could be seen retreating in the distance, fleeing at the sight of the heavy knights and valuing their own lives. Varyn grinned as Duke Hremvåuld kept his promise, but it was not completely fulfilled, he would still need to return to truly carry out his side of the deal.

As his mind went back to the magnificent charge, he witnessed a most splendid sight as the nine hundred practically indestructible mounted harbingers of death proceeded to crash into the exposed left flank of the Danish front line. Countless were crushed immediately and trampled under the heavy hooves or thrown back as they were hit, many others pierced by the lances or simply struck dead by them, even a few slipping in the wet grass as they were pushed by those around them, defenseless to protect themselves as chaos ensued.

With this the command to advance and charge was heard once more as Varyn rallied his men, starting ahead on his mount with four _frostradt_ of men behind him, rushing to meet the disrupted troops before them. As the two lines met, their foes seemed to reel back from being hit twice within the span of a minute and pulled back slightly, giving up precious ground. Screams and shouting were heard as spears clashed and swords and axes bit into shields. At once the Reikish cavalry pulled away from the fighting, it not being the best idea to stay in prolonged stationary combat when shock tactics were your advantage. As they withdrew the Danes regrouped from the lessened pressure and pushed forwards, their left flank however lagging behind with the effect of the charge still felt. This is where Varyn directed his attention, he strode off and found the sergeant in charge of his own right flank, dismounting quickly to give him a command.

"Syr, get a company of billhook-men together and use them on their left flank. They're weakened there and I believe we can make a breakthrough. Quickly now!"

The officer gave him a brief nod before carrying out his order. The billhooks would serve as a great tool to disrupt a shield formation, especially an already dazed one; the curved blade of the pole-arms being able to be driven past an opposing shield and latch into it, the user then could pull and possibly rip the shield from the hands of their enemy, a tactic they had learned in England and immediately tried to employ within their own armies.

As soon as he saw the sergeant off though, a order was called but was drowned out by a sudden boom of thunder, leaving no one the wiser of what was said until the infamous whooshing of a volley of arrows was heard soaring towards them. The Celt barely had time to respond before hundreds of the projectiles rained down all around him, killing many of those next to him who couldn't hear the order that was most likely to raise their shields. Luckily, Varyn was unhurt, but his horse turned out not to be, as it now laid dead in the mud with three arrows lodged in it.

"Well fuck… that sucks..."

Soon the men he called for arrived and Varyn personally oversaw them, leading the three hundred pole-arm men to the front line of their right flank. Marching forward with billhooks raised, they advanced upon on the Danish left flank, pushing them backwards and hoping to route them. As this was happening, Duke Nyrøss came once more with his shock cavalry, preparing a cycle charge on the Danes. When they noticed this, along with the men Varyn was leading, they began to retreat, and the dirty blonde's heart rose.

Only to be crushed as the cavalry began to drop like flies where the front line previously stood.

 _What the fuck?!_

It was only then that he noticed that caltrops now littered the area where the Danes had moved away from, the small metal spikes driving themselves into the hooves of the horses and sending them crashing to the ground and tripping up the riders behind them. This obviously should have meant that the charge would be abandoned to save those remaining from further injury, but those left had too much momentum and continued into the Danish infantry, only to this time be meet with pikes not seen before as the cavalry now seemed to throw themselves onto the long poles, slaughtering them easily. It was then that Varyn noticed Duke Nyrøss in the midst of the carnage; as he tried and failed to turn his mount away from the tip of a pike just feet away his horse collapsed from under him and flew forward from the impact, sending the man to the wet ground where an unseen blade finished him with a quick jab to the throat.

Varyn's own throat seemed to choke as he witnessed the death of one of the most powerful and loyal men in Reikland. "No..." he barely managed to whisper.

With the charge having completely failed, their numbers obliterated, and their leader slain, he took it upon himself to finally call for the desperately needed retreat of the remaining mounted knights.

" _AVERTRÁGH! VELITAAJÖ!"_ He shouted above the chaos around him, and those who were left obediently fled within a moment's notice. The Reikish cavalry would see no more action in this fight.

Not wanting to let his enemy to take pride in their success, the Celt charged with his billmen into the fray of the right flank, crashing into the distracted Danes and catching them off guard. Varyn, now armed with a similar pole-arm, thrusted the spearhead into the side of a man who had lost his shield, immediately he fell but another man came to take his place, this time with an axe. The man seemed enraged as he hit the end of Varyn's pole-arm into the mud and charged at him, but he, still holding onto the shaft of his weapon, swiped it to the left, hitting the man's feet and tripping him as he landed on the ground, another soldier finishing him off. He then took his pole-arm out of the mud and noticed a man engaged with fighting off the billhook of one of his own men, and quickly stabbed him in his unprotected face, killing him instantly.

"VARYN!"

The man turned to see who had shouted his name and saw across that at the end of his pole-arm was him.

The Dane himself, battleaxe in hand.

"MATHIAS WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" he called back, enraged at his adversary for all the misfortune he had caused.

The younger man grinned as he clasped the shaft of his great axe in his hand. "Ah, isn't it obvious?!"

At once he rushed at him, ignoring those around the two as he swung the massive blade at him. Varyn had little time to react, expecting him to talk more he dropped the weapon in his hands and swiftly pulled out his own sword, ready to counter-

The axe blade suddenly ran deeply across his face.

Excruciating pain followed as his cheek exploded into a burning sensation, blood flooding into his eye as he was thrown back from the impact, not even realizing what had happened. He fell staggering slowly to his knees into the mud as he saw in the distance a lightning strike… it was beautiful looking, erratic in its path down towards the ground… a funny thing to notice when there was another axe swing coming right towards your face.

 _Wait… I can't end my part in this battle right now… it would be anticlimactic!_

He then bolted up and caught the axe in his sword, sliding it down the wooden shaft and driving it into the ground. With his weapon now stuck Mathias looked dazed for a second before the Celt rammed the butt of his hilt into his stupid face.

It was over as soon as it began with the younger blonde falling to the wet grass unconscious. Varyn stood above him and spit the blood in his mouth onto the other man's chest. "Fucking amateur." he muttered.

 _An amateur… who managed to slice my face open…_

He decided not to dwell on the thought and wiped his bloodied face off before returning to the fight that _actually_ mattered.

 _Half an hour later_

"Woah, what happened to your face?"

Varyn turned from his position behind the front lines to see Karl approaching him on horseback. "Karl? What are you doing here?! It's dangerous to be by the front lines without your guards!"

"Would you relax? It looks like you've been messed up more than anyone with that fucking huge gash across your face, what happened?"

"Oh this?" Varyn lightly traced his wound with his hand, "Uh just a little graze from Mathias' axe."

Karl looked confused. "Mathias? You two fought?"

"Yeah the stupid little brat came at me out of nowhere, but I kicked his ass of course, he's right over there." He pointed to the unconscious body of the Scandinavian a few feet away.

The King raised an eyebrow. "Right… was that before or after he tore you a new one?"

His heart lurched at this.

 _So cruel…._

Varyn just shrugged it off casually. "Eh whatever, it'll heal."

"So then what happened to your horse?"

His heart lurched once more.

"Oh yeah, it uh… died in an arrow volley… unfortunately…" He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Karl stared at him with disappointment. "Boy you've done been fucked up."

"Whatever! Why are you here?!" The Celt asked impatiently.

"I can't check in on my generals? Haven't had many reports from your side, so I decided to check it out for myself."

"Oh… about that… Nyrøss is dead."

His king was silent for a moment before responding. "I know. Goddamn fool, I told him not to attempt cycle charges; cost him his life and possibly this entire battle."

Reikland couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had never heard Karl doubt his own abilities. "What do you mean? Surely things aren't going that badl-"

"Count Kreïger has abandoned us."

"What?!"

"Yup, the fucking traitor took off with seven hundred men behind him."

Varyn wanted to hit something at that moment, and seeing Mathias' body on the ground he kicked his face hard. "Fucking piece of shit, it's all his fault. I'm so glad I caught this stupid brat, can't wait to do whatever I want to him."

Karl grinned at the unconscious nation's unfortunate future with the enraged dirty blonde. "Well let's not get too worked up, we can't still count on Hremvåuld, the bastard has to be coming back soon."

It was at that moment a horn blast could be heard in the distance to their far right. The two men then turned to see the aforementioned returning to the battlefield, his heavy cavalry in the front racing towards them.

They both coincidentally whistled at the same time. "Well I'll be damned, he actually came through with the contract, I was almost afraid that he-"

"Wait a second." Varyn cut him off, squinting his eyes at the approaching forces and studying them for a minute.

"What is it?" The King finally asked.

"Hold on." The Celt then got into a better position to watch the main Danish men who were still engaged with their own soldiers; they didn't seem afraid at all.

He once more looked at the Swedish coming towards them. "Karl."

"Yeah?"

"They're coming for us."

His majesty's previously calm composure melted away instantly. "What?! What do you mean they're coming for us?! He's done everything as planned so far! He signed the bloody contract!"

As the two men were speaking though, they failed to see the small Kalmar detachment of a few soldiers coming towards them amidst the battle raging next to them.

"Yes, he might have, but his forces are directed straight at us. And look," he said, pointing at the Danish front line, "they aren't even fazed by this, they know that this is going to happen." Varyn took a moment to take a deep breath. "Karl, we've been played."

He looked back to see his king seemingly ready to burst in rage. "That son of a bitch! I'll strangle him! Get what men you have ready and prepare them!" He ordered.

At that moment, the cavalry could finally be heard over the still pouring rain; the loud clattering of their armour and hoof beats roaring in contest with the horrible weather, all heading for them.

Then suddenly a blinding and deafening flash struck down near them.

 _What the hell…?_

Letting his eyes readjust to the now dark sky in comparison to feeling like his eyeballs would melt, he noticed that lightning had struck right in the middle of the Swedish cavalry, knocking down many from the shock and disorienting them all.

"Alright!" Karl shouted from beside him, "Finally we're shown some favour in this battle! With this we might be able to claim that God's wrath is upon them and-" he was to be interrupted though, as a crossbow bolt suddenly slammed into chest, ripping through his armour and flinging him off his horse.

"KARL!" Varyn rushed to his king and only then noticed the men that were only a few yards away running to retreat back to their own forces, a crossbow in a few of their hands. The urge to chase them and make them pay for what they did was agonizing, but he pushed it aside to focus on his beloved ruler. Upon reaching the fallen king he noticed blood pouring from the wound above his heart, the rain washing it from the bolt embedded deep within his chest. His eyes were open but not following anything, probably due to shock. He scrambled to wrap the wound to the best of his abilities with any cloth on hand to slow the blood flow, and then strapped him atop his horse's back, he himself climbing on to the animal and starting off away from the battle and towards the camp they had left that morning.

While racing through the rain he heard a grunt over the roaring thunder above him. "Varyn…?" He heard him ask.

He couldn't distract himself from his riding so he answered with only a quick glance behind him. "Yeah I'm here. Don't worry, we'll patch you up real good you tough bastard, stay with me."

The man coughed up only what he could assume was blood as he stared up into the clouded sky and contorted in both pain and laughter. "Heh, r-remember when you said my arrogance w-would be the end of me? A-And that one moment I could find myself i-in a puddle of my own blood?"

The Celt mentally scolded himself for saying that earlier, but at least the man was talking. "Hey, don't think about that, I'm going to get you help and you'll be fine. Think about your sons, think about the wonderful wife you have waiting for you to come home, think about your kingdom that needs you, you can't leave them all behind." He desperately encouraged as he soon saw the palisade wall that marked the entrance of the camp.

Karl coughed again and grunted. "W-What about you?"

Varyn fabricated a laugh from his throat as he realized just how much he cherished this man. "Yeah yeah I'd miss you too you great son of a bitch, but I won't have to if you stay with me, look we're almost at the camp."

He looked back once more to see his much adored monarch attempt to raise his head and see the camp for himself, but soon give up the effort and laid back down.

As the two raced past the entrance, the guards opening the gate immediately upon seeing the two, he made his way to the medical tent and quickly dismounted as soon as he reached it, instantly seeing to getting Karl off the horse.

"Varyn? What happened?" He heard behind him.

He turned to see Lord Elrys coming up beside him, worry written all over his usually inexpressive face.

"Got an unexpected crossbow bolt in his chest slightly above his heart, we need to move quickly."

The trustworthy advisor simply nodded in understanding and helped him carry the King into the tent, calling for a surgeon to help them. A man standing over a sleeping patient noticed the commotion and recognizing the king, rushed to the two men.

"Where and how was he injured?" He briefly asked.

"A bolt a bit above his heart." Varyn replied as the doctor joined them in setting the wounded man onto a bed nearby. The pain of their King was disturbingly clear as he screamed when he was moved, his eyes rolling back in his head.

The surgeon called for supplies and alcohol from one of his assistants and began to inspect the injury while the Celt and Elrys did their best to keep the man awake, Varyn lightly slapping at his cheeks.

"Hey! Hey! Come on you have to stay with us! Karl this isn't the end for you, you just have to push through this! I know it hurts like hell but you need to hang on!"

It seemed in vain though, as Karl's face appeared to drain in colour, his consciousness fading. As the doctor unraveled the hastily tied bandage Varyn had put on before, blood gushed out of the aggravated wound just inches from one of his most vital organs.

"We can't extract the bolt just now, it's too far in his flesh and moving it will just cause more damage…" the man gave his inspection quickly before turning to Varyn. "Syr… there's too much blood loss, even if I try to treat the wound, by the time I'm done he will most certainly be dead. I can help ease the pain and make it tolerable, but not much else."

The Celt's own blood boiled at the thought of letting his King die without any attempt to save him. He unexpectedly then gripped the surgeon by the collar and lifted him from the ground, his eyes burning into his skull. "What's that? You want to sit and let him die just like that?! What's your name Syr? Do you want to be known as the man who had a chance to save his King, only to do nothing?! I don't care if it's a futile attempt, you should at least do something!" He screamed.

The man seemed at a loss for words as the nation unleashed his wrath upon him, but was saved as the Celt felt something touch his side. With a great surge of effort, Karl had reached and grabbed the dirty blonde's hand with his own and was now staring at him, desperation in his eyes as he struggled to keep his consciousness.

"Varyn… it's no use, thank you for trying to save me, but he's right… it'd be a lost and pointless cause." He retracted his hand to cover his mouth as he coughed up more blood. "J-Just promise m-me one thing…" the King forced the words out, his breath escaping him. With his other hand he again took Varyn's in his.

"Promise that you will save Emrys and protect Grecoff… keep my sons safe Varyn." The nation quickly nodded in agreement and with this he collapsed back down on the bed as his breathing slowed. His eyes however fluttered rapidly, scanning the air above him for something that wasn't there.

" _Min Godh_ … I've failed…" And at once his eyes stood still.

The hand still gripping Varyn's then grew limp and fell to his side as the tent became disturbingly silent.

At that moment a soldier opened the flap into where the men stood, breathing heavily. "My Lords!" he addressed Elrys and Varyn, "The battle is lost! Our forces are routed! The Danes have claimed victory!"

Dread was the only word to describe what was felt at that moment.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder as Lord Elrys stood behind him. "These are… troubling times for Reikland."

The Celt stared at the ground, his eyes frozen in fixation at his feet. "So they are…"

Translations:

 _Fjun_ \- correct/yes/right (usually used in question)

 _Afhádh pross:_ Reikish for 'advance forwards'

 _Skaithhei op:_ Reikish for 'shields up'

 _Avertrágh velitaajö:_ Reikish for 'Retreat' and 'fall back'

 _Min Godh:_ Reikish for 'my god'


	29. Chapter 29

Author's note: I have changed Varyn's eye colour from teal to grey as I believe it fits better

"Mr. Manuel! You have a package here!"

Chile got up from his chair in his living room to address his maid. "What is it?"

"I don't know, it's small and says it's from… Huh, that's odd."

"What?" he asked again, his curiosity rising as he approached her.

The old woman looked at him with confusion as she handed a small box to him. "It says it's from Reikland. Do you have friends there?"

"No. None at all." He bluntly said, taking the package from her.

He opened it a bit too quickly though as a piece of paper fell to the ground, as he reached to pick it up he saw what was written.

' _Hey Manuel, it's pretty chilly where you live at this time of year isn't it?'_

His gaze then turned back towards the opened package to see a box of ready-make chili.

"Son of a bit-"

Chapter 29

-A New Antics-

January, 2016

The level of Julia's disappointment was insurmountable as she walked through the front door.

 _Can't leave this house for two seconds..._

"VARYN!"

From where she stood a loud bang was heard upstairs followed by a disgruntled Nordic rushing down the staircase, his appearance sloppy with his hair even more messy than usual.

Despite this his smile was as stunning as ever as his face shined with joy at the sight of her. "Julia! You didn't tell me when you were coming in, I would've cleaned up a bit if I knew when you'd be here!" He walked up to the albino and hugged her, "Oh well, welcome back _älsk_." Again in spite of his unpolished look he surprisingly smelled nice and fresh, annoyingly like always.

The Prussian was caught off guard at his sudden embracement, but as she regained the thought that had just escaped her mind she pushed him away. She was happy at his reaction towards seeing her, rather comparable to an ecstatic puppy seeing its master, but she couldn't put aside and ignore the elephant in the room. "Varyn it's great to see you too, but what have you done to the house?! It's a complete pigsty! It'll take hours to clean this all!"

His face transferred from one of hurt from being pushed away, to confusion as he slowly looked around him. "Uhhh… what do you mean?"

She scoffed at his painful naïveté. "What do I mean? The curtains are wrinkled, the couch pillows are not straightened out, there are exactly one too many pairs of shoes in the mudroom," she paused for a second to walk into the kitchen, "there are dishes still left out-" she suddenly gasped as she saw what the dishes laid on. "Varyn, the countertops have dust on them for God's sake! Dust Varyn, dust!" She then opened the fridge. "Why am I not surprised, there's hardly any food in here! And is that a stain on the rug?!"

"Um, yeah we ran out of cleaner so I went to get some last night, I was going to get to it today."

"You should have done it as soon as you got home!"

"Julia… it was two a.m."

"So?!"

"Sooo… I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of it all. Sure it might be a little messy, I was busy doing somethings while you were gone, but don't you think you're over exaggerating just a bit?"

"Over exaggerating? Over exaggerating?! I think not! I'm gone for barely three weeks and I come back to this! Varyn we are living in an awesome house, not running a circus!"

The Celt suddenly smirked. "Ah, and might I remind you whose house this is?"

His attempt to abruptly halt the Prussian's rant failed as she walked forward and got into his face. "And who has helped you maintain and keep it orderly for twenty five years?!"

Varyn hung his head low from defeat from her counterattack. "You have…"

He felt a finger lift his chin up to see Julia grinning at him sadistically. "Right, now you're going to clean up this horrible mess while I get situated unpacking."

He nodded solemnly. "Okay…"

The albino's domineering presence however dissipated at that moment as she smiled genuinely and kissed his cheek. "I'm only slightly kidding Var, I'll help you as soon as I'm done."

"Um, thanks? But it shouldn't take _that_ long."

Her cruel look returned. "Oh I'll make it take that long. Damn it's great to be back."

His grey eyes seemed to swirl in excitement as life at home had returned to normal. He then felt yet another touch at his face as she traced his cheek. "Your beard is growing in by the way." She remarked.

He put his hand over hers to feel it too. "Yup, thought I might grow one since I don't remember what I looked like with one, but I'm not sure about it; I mean no one else really has one besides Francis, and I'm not sure how much I want to be compared with him. Does it look bad?"

"No, no at all. It'll be better once it's fuller, but it's fine right now. I remember what you look like with one and let me tell you, it was great. It's a shame you stopped, you didn't want to look weird in the past few centuries when beards were not too well received socially. But it's not that I dislike you clean shaven it's just cool to change things up every now and then."

He smiled at her praise. "Hmm, looks like I'll keep it then."

"You'd better." She then twirled away from him to take her bags upstairs. "Don't slack off on cleaning while I'm not looking though, have to have it spotless."

"Are we expecting someone?"

"Nope."

"Then why does it have to be perfect?"

"Because I said so." And thus she ran up the staircase, not letting him get another word out.

"Wait! How was your business trip?!" He called after her.

"It was awesome!" She shouted back, a door banging behind her, ending the conversation.

Reikland sighed, what else did he expect?

 _Three hours later_

Varyn knocked on the door to his own house with his forehead.

"Owww…"

As he waited for the albino to open the door he noticed the pain of his arms noticeably intensifying.

 _Come on Julia…_

A moment later he sighed in relief as he was accepted back into his own house and out of the cold. He dropped the many bags of groceries on the floor, much to the Prussian's alarm.

"Why did you take so many bags at once?!"

"Only cowardly weaklings take more than one trip." He muttered, massaging his strained arm muscles.

Julia only rolled her eyes. "Show off. But thanks anyways for getting everything."

The two helped each other carry the numerous bags into the kitchen as Värjö joined them, beckoned by the smell of food. He prodded the closest bag with his nose, sniffing it and wagging his tail.

Varyn grinned as he crouched down to pet the wolf's head. "Not yet bud, gotta put stuff away first. And I already feed you twice today."

This did nothing to alleviate the large canine's hunger as he whimpered. The man chuckled and looked over to see Prussia inspecting the bags.

"You didn't forget anything did you?"

"I don't think so…" he mumbled, standing up and scanning the bags quickly, "it's just that… why do we need two liters of pineapple juice?"

"Oh… that…" Julia clasped her hands awkwardly, "I heard a fun little fact about drinking pineapple juice for men a bit ago… which I'll tell you later."

"Uh, okay…" he trailed off, carrying the newly bought milk to the fridge.

He then heard a shriek, startling him and making him drop the milk to the floor. Varyn rushed to turn around and saw Julia staring at the box of yellow peeps he got.

"The fuck is this?!" She seethed.

"Oh uh," he began, his hand instinctively reaching for the back of his neck, "I saw them and thought it would be funny… is it not?"

"Most certainly not! Varyn this household is strictly yellow peep free! I will never eat anything in resemblance to Jilbird!"

Jilbird, who had been resting on the albino's head the whole time stared at the Celt disapprovingly, while Julia crossed her arms. "We're both extremely disappointed in you Varyn."

The man's head slumped as he regretted his purchase. "I'm sorry… I guess I'll throw them out then." He walked over to take the box from her hands but she pulled them out of his reach.

"Wait no! That would be wasting money! We could return it!"

"Julia it was like three euros, and I threw the receipt out by accident when I left the store."

Julia stroked her chin as she thought. "Shit… what could we use them for then?" Her face then lift up as a light went off in her head. "Oh wait! I know! Let's blow them up in the microwave instead!"

Jilbird screeched atop her head in distress.

"Isn't that even more insulting?!" Varyn asked in concern of their feathered friend.

"Oh shoot you're right. Uh… what if we used them as target practice for the hunting rifle you own?"

"That's nearly as bad! And since when do I have a hunting rifle?"

"You got it a while ago," she answered aimlessly, "but crap... there's not much to do with them…"

"So who cares?" He then took the box form her and placed it back in the bag. "We can ask if anyone wants them the next time we have people over, we can save them for now… besides, look what I just bought!" He said, lifting his new toy out of a different bag.

The albino was not impressed. "A fucking nerf gun? What are you, a nine year old?"

"I'll have you know missy, that it says for ages eight and up!" Varyn then opened the packaging and loaded a dart into the chamber. "See it's cool! Watch!" He pointed the gun at a painting on the wall and shot it.

The dart hit right where he was aiming for, but then proceeded to bounce off and hit Julia directly in the face.

Fear overtook the Celt as the dart stuck to her forehead, a blank expression on her face; the suction for some reason failed to stick on the painting, but succeeded with her skin.

He rushed to all fours in submission to beg for forgiveness. "Julia I'm sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen! I was just playing around!"

His dread only increased as there was no response from the Prussian, and he looked up to instead see her grinning widely, her face beaming. "That was awesome! We should get more and shoot each other!"

As he got to his feet he sighed deeply. "You know, this is why I love you."

"Thanks _liebe_ , but did you get any weird looks at the store for buying a nerf gun as a grown man?"

"Ah, no, I actually thought about that before hand. I bought a children's birthday card with it."

Julia stood silent.

"What?"

"That's actually a good idea."

"I know right?"

"I didn't think you were capable of such great thinking Varyn."

"Well fuck you too dart face."

In an instant he was on the floor being strangled.

 _A few hours later_

"NOOOOOO!"

Prussia jolted up from her position lying across the couch from the Nordic. When she saw that he was only reading his book, she was confused. "Varyn? What is it?!"

"Rob Stark died! The king in the north is dead! Those fucking Freys! How dare they?!"

She gave him a dead stare. "That's what you screamed about? You woke me from my awesome beauty sleep."

"You were drooling." He quickly remarked before addressing his book, "And yes I screamed about it, any devoted Game of Thrones fan would!"

Julia embarrassingly wiped her mouth. "Didn't you already read those books?"

"Yeah but I forgot everything about them for some reason, can't say that I mind it though, I get to experience this masterpiece all over again!" A thought then came across his mind, "Say, do we watch the show together?"

"Uh yeah, season six is starting in April."

Reikland's face lit up. "Really? Awesome! I've got to finish rereading the series by then!"

This irritated the Prussian as she poked his side with her foot. "Varyynnn… you focus so much on that stuff… love meeeeee…"

"But you said I ruined your 'beauty' sleep."

"But I'm awake now… so I want attention…" she continued to prod him.

"Alright," he said, putting his book down and taking off his glasses, "I was going to show this to you later but I guess it doesn't really matter when I do. Do you remember how I said I was working on something while you were gone?"

"Uh yeah…" Julia began, her intrigue rising.

He smiled. "Want to know what it was?"

"Uh sure, what is it?"

"Do you really want to know?" The man teased.

Julia rolled her eyes. "Yes I want to fucking know, you brought it up."

His smile widened. "Well you'll have to wait until tonight, we're going out to eat."

This seemed to get her attention as she sat up. "Really? Where?"

"You know that popular German family owned pub downtown?"

Her violet eyes widened. " _Der Berliner?_ "

"Yup, I remembered that you loved to go there and that we knew the owners so I decided to set up a reservation for tonight."

The albino wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him close. "That's great! That place is awesome! Thanks Var!"

Reikland then remembered something that worried him. "Wait you're not too tired to go out later are you? I imagine you must have not had a lot of time to rest on your business trip right?"

"Well you're right, I didn't, but I'll be fine for tonight. Thanks for worrying about me. But…" she trailed off, looking down at herself, "that means I'll have to get changed, can't go looking like this."

Her attire had consisted of only underwear and a loose tank top since she got home.

"I mean hey, I wouldn't mind." He smirked.

"Neither would I, but I have a history of being thrown out of bars that I would not like to continue."

"Ah, alcoholism is quite a pain to deal with I see."

She punched his arm. "Hey I'm not an alcoholic! I drink modestly most of the time!"

The Celt groaned at the pain in his arm. "I'm really going to get a broken bone one of these days. Why does everyone hit the same exact spot?"

She punched him again, but lighter this time. "Pussy. It's because the stupid author can't think of anything unique."

Reikland nodded. "Ah, what a pain in the ass he must be."

Julia crossed her arms. "I know, do you know how whiny and out of character he makes me sometimes?! It's annoying honestly."

He grinned as he leaned back down onto the couch. "Good thing I'm not based off a character, anything goes."

"Well at least I'm not in the show… so I guess I could be different from Gilbert… can you believe that they didn't make me a part of the show?! I'm too awesome to be left out, what the hell?! Gilbert's a punk." She complained, sitting on his lap now.

"Hah, could you imagine if you were him in this story?"

Julia smirked. "Oh, would you like that? Being in a relationship with a guy?"

Varyn shook his head nonchalantly in denial. "Nah _älsk_ , the dick life ain't for me."

"We'll see about that…" she said, stroking her chin slowly.

He looked up at her in fear. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her sadistic grin revealed itself once more. "Oh you'll see…"

 _At the pub_

"Hey Jules? I had a question for you." Varyn asked, sitting across from the silver haired woman who was eating a dish of schnitzel and potatoes rather sloppily.

"What?"

"Well, the first-" He began.

"No, what did you just call me?" She interrupted.

"Uh, Jules?"

"You remember calling me that?"

"Yeah, just recently I had a memory where I used it."

Julia smiled at the reconnected history between them. "Oh, great! Now what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, as I was saying, the first time I met Turkey… or Sadik, I felt an immediate disliking to him and I still do, but I don't know why. Can you think of any reason why I wouldn't like him?"

Prussia took a moment to think about this before answering. "Well nothing happened recently in modern times, I mean we were all allied together in World War One. But you did resent him for the longest time after he killed Byzantium, I guess that must be why."

Varyn then felt guilty again for not remembering someone. "Byzantium? Was I close with them? I don't even know if they were a man or woman."

Prussia sighed as she had to explain yet another thing to the Nordic man. Then again, it was her fault that this happened, so she shouldn't be complaining. "Zoë was a woman, and you were good friends with her because of both of your relations with Rome, she was his daughter after all. She was, I believe from what you told me a long time ago, the last nation from your earlier times to die. You seemed extremely upset and disturbed when she was killed."

Reikland then had a faint distant memory of some event. "Wait, were you with me when I found out about her death?" He asked.

The red-eyed nation immediately perked up as he seemed to regain some of his past. "Yes! We were! We were in Königsberg! You were helping me out militarily when we heard the news!" She quickly said, trying her best to aid in his recovery.

Images flashed before the Celt's eyes, dizzying him slightly. "Königsberg…" he said to himself.

"Yes!" Julia exclaimed excitedly. "Do you remember?"

More visions appeared before him, his head swirling. "I think so…" he said. He tried to retain his grip on reality, but he was already slipping.

 _Königsberg_

 _June, 1453_

Varyn was collapsed in a chair, Julchen next to him, just having received news of the death of his oldest friend.

"She's… she's really gone…" the man softly spoke, almost in a whisper.

"Varyn, are you going to be okay?" The albino girl asked, eyeing him worriedly.

"I don't know Julchen… I don't know…" he muttered, covering his mouth with his hand. "I knew this was going to happen eventually, it was inevitable… and yet I did nothing…"

"Varyn you can't blame yourself for this, like you said, it was inevitable; how could you have saved her?"

"It's not the matter of saving her Julchen, it's the matter of letting her know that people still remembered her, cared about her, thought she was relevant… no, she probably died feeling abandoned and forgotten by the world… I could have at least saved her from that."

He then looked the albino in the eyes. "Julchen… I'm not trying to insult you, but please don't… don't do anything rash okay?"

The German was confused by this. "What? What do you mean?"

Reikland narrowed his eyes and took her hand into his, gripping it tightly. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it; the Teutonic Order is not in the most… stable position right now and you know it, you've been in a precarious state ever since what happened forty years ago. So please, please be cautious in the years to come for at least my sake. You are one of my dearest friends right now, I hope you know that, and I couldn't stand to see any harm come to you."

The albino blushed slightly, but her thoughts soon turned bitter.

 _Is friendship the only thing between us?_

However, as she thought this, she mentally reprimanded herself and shrugged it off.

"Julchen?"

Her attention came back to Reikland as she realized that she had spaced out. "Oh uh, yeah I promise," she smiled, "but have a little faith in me okay? I'm not going away anytime soon."

Varyn's grim expression faded as he returned the grin. "I should hope so, you're much too young to end your time in this beautiful world."

"Yeah whatever gramps, I'll make sure to get as old as you before I go." She then laughed, "Ha, guess I'll have a while then."

The Celt did not appreciate the jest at his age. "Yes I know I'm a senile old man."

"I'm kidding!" She chuckled again, "but anyways…" Julchen paused, her face turning more somber, "may I ask for a little insight? What exactly did you have with Zoë? If you're comfortable answering that is."

The man was silent for several moments as he gathered his thoughts, more than a thousand years of memories flowing through mind. Finally he sat up straight and ran his hand through his hair. "Zoë was… perhaps not my best friend, but she was the one I could relate to the most, the one I could confide in more than anyone. She was a small child when I first met her eleven hundred years ago, timid at first with seemingly bottomless shoes to fill from her father, Romulus. At first our only connection was our mutual relation to Rome, but over the centuries as the nations we were familiar and grew up with began to pass, we both became closer as old friends living in a very new and changed world."

He paused for a second to think before he next spoke.

"However after the Fourth Crusade and the death of her lover, the Kievan Rus, she… she never recovered. Both of us knew that her time on earth was running short and I tried to help her, but the distance between our lands never allowed me to make much of a difference. I'm actually surprised she lasted this long…"

Varyn stopped short as realization seemed to hit him.

"But she's… she's really gone now. She was the only other one… I'm all that's left…" he took a sharp intake of breath and sorrowfully laughed, his face sinking into his hands. "God I feel so alone…"

Julchen stood motionless before him, not knowing what to say, so instead chose to remain silent. A minute passed before Varyn exhaled a deep sigh and raised his head. "I guess time really is man's worst enemy."

He then noticed that she had not moved the whole time he had talked and began to apologize. "Sorry Julchen, I'm sure you don't want to hear my sob story. If you want we can-"

"Varyn may I ask you something?" She interrupted.

The Celt was a bit taken aback but quickly nodded. "Uh, yes, certainly, what is it?"

"Why do you support me?" The albino asked emotionlessly.

He looked even more surprised by her question. "Come again?"

"I want to know why have always supported me in nearly everything I've done ever since you met me. And don't give me any crap about you being the reason I was sent here, I've known that for a while now but it doesn't make any sense to me, you have no obligation to help me in any way. I've only been a hindrance to you and your own advancements… so why?"

Varyn smiled almost nervously, "Julchen, you should know that you are one of the greatest friends that I have, I would-"

"And also don't say it's because we're 'friends', even mere friends don't go through such lengths." She interrupted once more.

Varyn looked at her seriously now before reclining into his chair. "You really want to know?"

She nodded in response. "I do."

He sighed once more. "The reason I have aided you throughout the years is because you remind me of someone from my past. They had an… unfortunate end that I wasn't able to save them from… so I've tried to assist you to the best of my abilities." He then smiled weakly at her, "Can you forgive me for trying to protect those I hold dear? Helping you helps me relieve some of the… guilt from the mistakes I've made." The Nordic now stared into her eyes, "Julchen, what we have is precious to me, I don't want anything to change it."

She again nodded, this time in understanding, but her face continued to hold no emotion. "Varyn… what am I to you?"

Reikland leaned forwards closer to her. "My closest and most cherished friend; better than I could have ever asked for."

The German smiled almost painfully as she began to leave the room, turning back only to say one last thing, "Then that is what I will be…" she opened the door and let out a whisper, barely audible but just loud enough for him to hear, "and nothing more."

 _Back to present_

Varyn came back to Julche-, no, Julia staring at him expectantly.

"So? Do you remember it?"

"Yeah… but I'm not sure I want to." He said, rubbing the back of his neck instinctively. "Is it a bit hot in here?" He asked while unraveling the scarf around his neck.

Varyn felt the fretful gaze of the Prussian as she stared at him with concern. "Are you alright? We can go outside or something if you need some fresh air." She said this all while ordering another drink.

The Nordic didn't want to spoil their night out so he rejected the idea and instead tried to liven the mood. "No, I'll be alright. I'm more worried about you though Julia, please don't get drunk, or alcohol poisoning, this is your seventeenth beer after all."

"Me? Alcohol poisoning?" She cackled, chugging down the beer as soon as it arrived, "Who do you think I am? You? Amy Winehouse?"

"Ouch." He said, grasping his heart in mock agony. "Too far _älsk_. Too far."

Julia giggled into her drink. "Whatever. So what was this about you working on something?"

"Ah yes, almost forgot about that. I brought it with me, it's for you."

This finally managed to bring the albino's attention away from her alcohol. "Really? What is it?"

"Take a guess." He teased, taking the object out of his pocket.

Julia's mind raced for a moment before giving up. "I have no idea, something awesome?"

"That's for you to decide." Varyn smiled, revealing an ornate silver bracelet to her.

The Prussian let out a gasp of excitement as he put the jewelry onto her wrist, "Oh my god! Varyn this is beautiful! Did you make it yourself?"

"Yup, it has your initials engraved into it if you look closely." He said, pointing out the small 'J. B.' inscription in the metal.

Julia frowned and grunted, ordering another beer as she finished her last one. "Ugh, you just reminded me that mine are the same as Justin Bieber's."

"Oh," Varyn's face fell, "do you not like that? I could grind it down a bit if you want."

"Oh no it's fine! It's perfectly fine Var, I love it!" The albino exclaimed, pulling him closer to her. "Just like I love you."

Her expression sank though as she remembered something. "Wait, so that means I yelled at you for the house being messy when it was because you were working on this?"

The Celt smiled nervously, "Uh… kinda?"

"Well now I feel shitty." Her gaze then slowly fell over him with annoyance. "This is your fault, you should have told me."

"I was trying to surprise you!"

She crossed her arms sloppily in frustration. "Well I don't like surprises."

"But you love surprises! Are you sure the alcohol isn't getting to your head?"

The Prussian scoffed as she drank more of her beer, her face flushed red. "Whaaaat? Noooo…"

Varyn was not amused and scooped her up. "Alright, I think you've had enough, it's time to get you home _älsk_."

"What?! No!" She yelled, squirming in his grip. " _Lass mich runter! Ich bin nicht erledigt!_ "

"Oh yes you are! C'mon, we're going home and putting you to bed!"

Julia sighed in defeat, clinging to him. "Ugh… fine… be gentle." She whispered.

"What? No that's not what I-" He stopped as he saw her giggling.

"Let's just go." He said, taking them both outside and leaving their favorite pub.

Translations:

 _Lass mich runter! Ich bin nicht erledigt!:_ German for 'Let me go! I'm not done!"


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

-A surprise for you-

130's A.D.

Modern-day Norway

"Astrid?! Astrid where are you?!" Askroltia called out as he stumbled through the now thick snow and dense forest around him, struggling to find his companion after walking besides her just moments ago.

 _Dammit this is all my fault, if I had just listened to her and stayed close behind none of this would have happened!_

After their hiking trip back in his homeland, Astrid had wanted to do the same with a mountain here in Scandinavia with a surprise of her own; and so the two were just previously trekking together up the mountainside when an intense blizzard suddenly hit them. They were fine at first huddled in a small clearing, but Astrid insisted that they continue upwards despite the violent snowfall that reduced their visibility to barely twenty feet in front of them. Soon enough Varyn had found himself alone in the forest despite her warning with no way to locate where she had gone as the snow quickly filled any footprints made by anyone or anything.

He tried to stay calm at first and think logically of a way to find her, but that soon failed as he quickly lost track of any sense of direction in the huge forest they were in and even the amount of time that had passed since he lost her. As he stumbled once more he fell to his knees in the snow and clutched his head as worry seeped through his brain at the possibility of losing his best friend.

 _Fuck! What am I going to do?! I wish I had Värjö with me, he could probably track her, but it's hopeless on my own and in these conditions!_

Despite these pessimistic thoughts Varyn stood up and made his way to huddle in the safety of a rocky outcrop from the wind and snow, attempting to gather himself and prepare for what was to come. "Come on!" He said to himself, slapping his cheeks to dispel the negative outcomes that he was starting to imagine in his mind, "Pull yourself together Varyn! It's not like you'll lose her forever! Just go out and find her!"

With that he readjusted the gear on his back and trudged his way back to where he thought he had first lost her, quite the distance away from where he now stood. His previous observation of the footprints being completely hidden from the snow turned out to be an exaggeration, as you could still faintly make them out if you looked hard enough. Retracing his steps, or more so awkward trudging, he eventually after what seemed like forever found the spot where two sets of footprints diverged, what he predicted to be Astrid's veering slightly to the right.

 _God damn it's cold, how does she live here?_ He thought while shivering fiercely, his clothes being nearly completely soaked. _At least the snow is starting let up._

Taking this path, Varyn noticed how dark it was, though he couldn't tell if it was from it being late or from the clouded sky above him. The whole situation gave the forest an ominous feel as the silence around him seemed to envelope and penetrate his mind, an odd description for the lack of sound in the air, only the faint fall of snow being heard. Anxiety and fear once more plagued his mind as he finally realized just how alone and exposed he was. There was no sign of life anywhere around him as the woods stretched on as far as he could see with not even any break up in the uniformity of the foliage; every tree seemed to be nearly the same in every direction.

 _This is seriously creepy, why would Astrid bring me to such a place? What surprise awaits me?_

As he thought this, he suddenly had a alarming idea.

 _What if she's going to bring me to some kind of ritual or sacrifice thing? I've heard some of her Gods demand those kind of things, am I apart of one? Was this all planned out?_

Varyn began to panic as he quickly looked around him in every direction, scanning for something different in the bleak and almost sinister monotony all around him.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing except the fog of his breath, the sound of his own movements, and the endless trees before him. Nothing stirred, nothing moved, nothing made a sound. By know though he didn't know if he wanted anything to.

At that moment he scolded himself for being afraid of literally nothing. _Come on Varyn there's nothing here, the fuck are you worried about you pussy?! Keep going!_

Then something fell and brushed his back. Something cold, the hairs on his body sticking up immediately.

Varyn seemingly jumped out of his skin as he leapt from the shock, instantaneously his heart started to beat rapidly as he turned around to face what just touched him.

He then realized it was just a large clump of snow that fell from the tree next to him, the dense material making an indent in the snow that already covered the ground.

Shame befell him as he began to comprehend just how much of a coward he was.

 _Fucking shit! Why am I so nervous?! It's just fucking snow!_

The Celt kicked at the ground in frustration, angry that he could he frightened by such a minor thing; at least there was no one there to witness his embarrassing moment.

But there was.

And she was right behind him.

Varyn then for the second time nearly fainted from fright as the woman tapped his shoulder, startling him beyond imagination as he fell to the cold ground.

"Jesus Christ Astrid! What the fuck?!"

The tall Nordic stood over him, grinning down at him. "Your own fault; shouldn't let your guard down like that."

"I looked all around me! Where the fuck could you have come from?!"

She brought a finger to her lips. "That's a secret. But anyways that's what you get for running off like that; what if we lost each other?! I told you to stick behind me!" She folded her arms in the manner of a scolding mother.

"I'm sorry I'm less familiar with the terrain than you are." The blonde grumbled. "And besides I could barely see ten feet in front of me before; I don't know why we had to press on through these conditions."

Astrid's gaze softened as she reached to help him up. "Sorry, I know this isn't exactly an ideal trip but we need to reach the top of this mountain before nightfall for what I want to show you, and we can make it in good time if we just continue on. I promise that we can rest once we get there. Think you can make it?"

"If I don't freeze to death first then yes." He sighed, accepting her hand up.

"Alright! Sounds like a plan then!" She cheerfully exclaimed, starting off uphill.

"Wait Astrid, I was trying to say that my clothes were soaked, can't I change them or someth-"

"What's that?!" The woman called from ahead, clearly ignoring him.

"Fuck you that's what." Varyn mumbled under his breath.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. And oh yeah, what's 'Jesus Christ'? Is that a person?"

"Oh crap! I forgot I'm not supposed to use that term for like another millenia!"

 _Hours later_

Varyn awoke in his sleeping bag to someone shaking him gently. He groaned as his strained muscles ached for more rest, he must have not slept for more than four hours.

"Varyn, come on. It's time now, I can finally show you what we came here for." Astrid said quietly.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up." The Celt answered, rising groggily inside the tent and stretching his stiff body. "What time is it?" He yawned.

"Uh, it's at least past dusk I can tell you that." She replied, stepping out into the frigid winter night air.

Varyn chuckled as he saw that it was nearly pitch black outside, only the moon shedding any light onto the ground below. "Well you're not wrong."

Astrid then began to walk away from the tent and deeper into the forest, gesturing for him to follow. Heading this the two were soon strolling together through the snow covered forest once more, this time though in peace as the calm sky held no clouds, instead the blackness above them freckled with the thousands of brilliantly shining stars, glimmering in their distant beauty.

In a starlit trance Astrid looked up to the sight above her. "Wow," She spoke softly, breaking the silence, "I've never seen the sky lit up so much before."

" _After every storm comes a rainbow_." The Celt quoted, joining her in her stargazing.

"I don't think rainbows can exist at night Varyn."

"No, that's just an- you know what, nevermind."

After continuing on further, and with no apparent end to their little journey towards whatever awaited them, Varyn decided to bring up what had been bothering him this whole time. "So uh, mind finally telling me what exactly this _'surprise'_ is? Just because this is my first time asking doesn't mean I don't want to know."

"Patience Varyn, patience. I've kept it a secret this long, don't expect me to spill it out now. And besides you never told me what you were going to show me when we visited the _fjǫrðr_ in Askroltia."

"Fair enough. Though may I at least ask why we brought only one tent? They're light enough to carry two."

"Ah but where's the fun in that?" The light blonde asked, turning to face him, her smile unbroken like always. "Isn't it more comforting to sleep besides someone?"

Varyn crossed his arms with annoyance. "It's comforting to have personal space."

"Oh don't be like that! You know you loved sleeping with me right next to you, don't lie."

"The only thing I loved was the warm embrace of my sleeping bag and the ability to imagine that I'm not in this frigid ice box you call a home."

Astrid brought a hand to cover her mouth in a mock pained expression. "Well at least my lands aren't teeming with outsiders."

"From my point of view the Romans are nearly as favourable as the natives."

The Nordic knitted her eyebrows. "Well then you are lost."

The two stood in awkward silence after that.

"Well that was a sad attempt to quote Star Wars." She remarked.

"Indeed it was, the author really needs to step up his game. Now, let's continue on." Varyn said.

"Certainly."

Minutes passed until the two finally reached their destination which turned out to be a small clearing, a nice breakup compared to the endless forest all around them. As they came through the tree line Varyn saw several natural stone pillars in a sort of haphazard circle with a central block in the middle. Approaching the formation he noticed a plethora of inscriptions dotting all along the stones, symbols he recognized as runes. Immediately the Celt's mind raced back towards his previous theory of a ritual or sacrifice, his nerves standing on end as he imagined the worst.

"Uh Astrid?" He asked anxiously, catching sight of what appeared to be dried old blood on the center stone, "What exactly is this?"

The tall Nordic sensed his unease and motioned with her hand to calm down. "Relax, just watch."

Exhaling a worried breath Varyn watched her walk towards the central block and kneel down. A knife appeared from under her clothes as she took it and gently sliced the inside of her hand open, letting the blood drip to the stone below. She then clutched her hand into her chest and began to whisper, words he couldn't understand flowing from her lips. Soon all around her the runes indented on the pillars began to glow a faint blue and Varyn sensed something slightly different in the air. Finally she turned to look back at where he stood, grinning at him, "See what I can do with my 'dumb' runes?"

"What… what did you just do?" He asked.

Astrid brought a finger to her lips. "Just wait, they'll be here soon enough."

"Who will be?" Varyn asked even more nervously.

"Shhhhh!" She whispered loudly, "Just shut up and come over here!"

Making his way to the center of the clearing the Celt's feeling of uneasiness returned, especially after getting a good look at the runes which should definitely have not been glowing… at least in normal circumstances. Though he had seen stranger things when dealing with deities and such in his own lands; the fact that he didn't know much about the Norse Gods was what put him on edge.

Soon enough distant and dim lights began to appear in the forest around them, the same soothing blue as the runes next to them. After a few moments ephemeral figures could seen, gone so quickly that Varyn wasn't even sure that he saw them in the first place, only to notice them a second later in a different spot; their blue translucent bodies seeming to have no definitive shape, only loosely resembling a humanoid figure as they swirled their way towards the two. The beings almost seemed non-existent, as their bodies almost flickered and wavered, as if they had difficulty appearing in this form. Yet all the same dozens of them approached the clearing and more likely the two nations inside it, once again making the Celt worried.

"Astrid," he whispered, tugging on her sleeve, "what are these things?!"

"Calm down, they're harmless." She replied, annoyance in her voice. "See look, their not even that big."

She was right, as the… things finally got close enough to see more clearly he saw that they were actually quite diminutive, probably about only half the size of himself. They also seemed to be taking on a more recognizable form, as now he noticed their more feminine and childish figures with even faces starting to appear where their head should be. He actually noticed that their slight blue glow actually illuminated the snow beneath them, lighting the whole area with a feint and calming blue hue, relaxing him to a degree. Soon more and more of them came closer and continued to swirl around them, or Astrid more specifically, not using their feet but floating instead. Astrid smiled as she reached out to some, her hand passing through their bodies with ease as if they weren't even physically there. The whole cluster of these beings seemed ecstatic by this, their expressions changing from curiosity to jovial as their speed quickened and rushed around the Nordic woman.

"These are the _Dísir_." She finally said, "they're lesser gods that aid and protect specific clans or families."

"So they're good?" Varyn asked, still nervous about the whole situation.

"Most of them, some are rather… vexing to say the least and some are a bit warlike, but most are benign; and since I represent all the clans and families throughout my lands they absolutely adore me." She grinned at her last statement.

"I can tell." He said as more and more flew around her. "But uh, why are they all children?"

"That's because they are the spirits of our female ancestors. Many revert back to the time when they were most innocent, I would say that children are rather innocent right? The ones that lived more… troubled lives come back as they were when they died, those are the annoying ones."

"But these ones are fine," she said, "go on, reach out to them, they'll accept you. It actually tickles a little." She giggled.

The Celt didn't move at first, taking a deep breath instead. He then hesitantly extended his hand out to the _'Dísir'_ around him and, like before, they passed through like nothing. The sensation was actually kind of… nice, it was a little cold and tingled a bit, but felt soothing, like a semi-cold bath in the heat.

Astrid smiled as saw him enjoying his time. "Feels cool doesn't it?"

He nodded slightly, "Yeah… this is so… great." Other _Dísir_ began to flow literally through his body and he grinned as their touch sent his nerves on end. (in a good way)

"You don't seem too surprised about this whole thing." She observed.

Varyn finally turned to look at her after being captivated by the experience. "Sorry if I'm not too…" he trailed off trying to find the word, "expressive, I've witnessed somewhat similar things in my lands but never to this extent. Astrid, this is truly amazing, I've never believed _that_ much in the spirits and deities the mortals worship so much, but now… I think I'll have to reconsider, thank you for bringing me here."

The blonde woman casually brushed off his praise with a flick of her hair, "Well I just thought that since some of my people are beginning to migrate into your lands it would be helpful if you could relate to them by understanding their culture more, they're going to be your people too you know. Well at least eventually."

"Huh that's true, so uh, what's the other reason?" He teased.

"Oh." Astrid started, nervously looking at the ground. "Well, I thought it would also be nice if we could share beliefs and have more things in common. I mean you and Gwyneth are always talking about things together but I could never relate. And now with Norse people starting to live in Askroltia I thought this would be a good opportunity to connect."

She looked back up as Varyn grasped her shoulders and stared at her with his clouded grey eyes. "I appreciate it Astrid, thank you so much for this." He then embraced her tightly to truly show how thankful he has.

"And I know you explained it all but what are those taller ones with tails that actually look human?"

The Scandinavian turned around to notice that some additional and uninvited spirits had crept into the clearing and where approaching the two. "Oh shit, why are they here?"

"What's wrong, are they dangerous?" Varyn asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Sometimes," Astrid answered, "those are the _Hulder_ or _Huldra_ depending on what region you're in, they're female forest spirits that are almost annoyingly beautiful and have tails and hollowed backs. They can get pretty protective of the lands they live in and seduce that humans venture into their forest and eventually suck the life out of them… don't get any ideas since you're immortal."

"You think I'm going to get freaky with a tailed girl?"

The woman eyed him with distrust. "I wouldn't put it past you. But why are they here? I only summoned the _Dísir_ …" She trailed off as she looked up at her companion, "Oh fuck you Varyn!"

He looked at her with confusion. "What? What did I do?" At that point some of the _Hulder_ advanced further into the clearing with hesitation, probably not used to seeing humans too often.

"They're obviously attracted to this clearing because they sensed your unnaturally good looks!"

"The fuck? Are sure that you didn't do something wrong in your summoning; slip up a word or two?"

The woman suddenly became flustered as she realized that was probably the case. "Oh yeah… I guess that could be true too, this is only my third time doing this and the last time was like eighty years ago…" She then expelled any embarrassment from herself as she grabbed the Celt's arm and led him away from the _Hulder_ that were closing in on him. "But they particularly like handsome men so you're not helping! Let's get out of here before they start chasing us!"

"Are those claws?" Varyn asked as he saw the female spirits extend their fingernails into sharp points.

"Yes! And they look like their ready for a piece of you so let's go!" And with that the two fled the clearing with one last nod to the _Dísir_ as a thanks to the spectacle and made their way back to their camp, a fresh snowfall covering their tracks.


	31. Chapter 31

-Prologue-

The year is 1391, it has been 13 years since the Reikish were defeated at The Battle of the River Jotyn along with their great King Karl alf Loizinger being slain at the hands of the Kalmar Union. A puppet king loyal to the Danish crown and cousin to the Danish King Olaf II, King Jannik, was installed to govern the island kingdom and mediate between instilling control and autonomy upon the Reikish people. He was rather successful at first, being pragmatic and sympathetic towards his new Reikish subjects and being generally well liked with fair laws and trying to connect the similar cultures of Reikish and Scandinavian, but his reputation soon turned to one of infamy.

In 1384 after being held captive for 6 years, Prince Emrys, who should have become king after his father's death, was nearly captured by a group of Reikish loyalists who kidnapped him in a rescue attempt to put him on the throne and restore the Loizinger dynasty. This attempt failed however, with all conspirators and suspected supporters being executed (which included a number of influential nobles), along with Prince Emrys himself, all by the order of King Jannik, as he believed a harsh punishment was in order for an attempt to overthrow him. These actions immediately had the drastic effect of turning nearly every Reikish citizen against the puppet king and railed support for the loyalist cause which then sought to install Emrys' younger brother Prince Grecoff on the throne instead, who had previously fled to the friendly Duchy of Burgundy years prior. However, with Grecoff only being 14 at the time, his supporters decided to wait for him to come of a more suitable age and in the meantime draw support from their allies in Scotland and Burgundy and plan for the right time to rebel against their Scandinavian overlords.

This time came in 1387 when Olaf II died at the age of 16 leaving the throne to his mother, Margaret of Denmark, who really had been running the Kalmar Union before him, so the transition was nearly seamless. However King Jannik, being a cousin of the late Olaf II, contested for his right to the Danish throne, this didn't work out well for him as most nobles in the union supported Margaret and recognized her authority even before becoming Queen. This led to nearly all support of the Kalmar Union being withdrawn from Jannik's occupation of Reikland, as Margaret saw Jannik as being a minor, but not ignorable threat. She also knew that the cost of trying to manage and keep Reikland under her control was too much for the Union to handle without any cooperation from the Reikish themselves, and so King Jannik was left to his own devices with no support from his home country and an unruly populace ready to burst in rebellion against him. Thus Jannik did what any monarch would do if they felt as if their position was threatened, he bought as many mercenary companies as he could to protect him with the entire Reikish treasury and enacted a purge of any people or nobles who spoke out against him, which only further angered the native Reikish.

The loyalists knew that then was the perfect time to dispose Jannik and every last trace of Kalmar influence from their country and so arranged for Grecoff to return home and declare all out war on the puppet king, this time with 7,000 Burgundian and Scottish troops to support them and some Teutonic mercenaries at a 'discount' (they were almost free). The Second Reikish-Kalmar War thus began in 1388, which saw little action in the beginning with both sides preparing and organizing their forces, but by 1391 the war had reached its climax and was drawing to an end with the Reikish loyalists recently winning a decisive battle at Hannasheath and Jannik going into hiding, protected only by a few remaining Pan-Nordic nobles. As a result various mercenary companies scour the countryside with a breakdown in communication and no instructions from their buyer, pillaging and looting villages as they travel to make due. The Reikish realm might be in shambles, but the people know that they will continue to fight until they see Jannik's head on a pike.

Chapter 31

-Beginning of the End-

Summer, 1391

A forest in southern Reikland

The woods shook from the heavy footsteps and various noises of the brigade of mercenaries plowing their way hurriedly along, disturbing the entire forest in their wake. The dirt path they were following was much too thin for their large numbers so they had to make due with going at a much slower pace, irritating many in their group.

One sergeant made his way to the head of the company, shouldering many aside to reach his commander. "Might I ask why we are taking this route, _sir?_ " He asked with no hint of reverence.

Mathias looked down from atop his horse to see who had spoken to him. "Might I ask you to speak with some respect to your commander?" He countered, realizing that it was just an insignificant sergeant, a stupid German one too.

"Remember that you only have your position because our previous commander died, no thanks to you." The man grumbled at the young and scrawny looking man that despite his appearance was centuries older than him.

"And remember that you are only getting paid because of me and my accomplices." The blonde retorted once more, but seeing that he needed these men's support he decided to try and go a bit easier on them. "I chose this path because I've learned that it directly leads to Lijná, a small yet wealthy city we used to control but lost a year or so ago." He said, filling the man in as he had not been here in the beginning of the war. "Also no one will think that we've gone this way as it's hardly ever used."

"You can say that again." The sergeant mumbled, pushing aside a patch of overgrown ferns from his face. "But if this Lig- Lijnu-whatever place-"

"Lijná." Mathias quickly corrected, earning an irritated glare.

"Whatever place," the man repeated, "is wealthy, won't we need siege equipment? Any city like that surely will have some form of walled fortifications."

The Danish man smiled, "We have supporters inside and among the leaders of the city; we'll camp outside the walls for a night or two and wait for them to open the gates to let us in, then we'll oust the governing leaders and install ones loyal to King Jannik."

"Think the garrison will give us much trouble?"

"Against more than three thousand well armed mercenaries? Not at all, this will be a trivial matter."

"But there's only eight hundred of us…?" The sergeant asked in confusion, looking behind him at their entire forces.

"We're meeting up with two larger regiments later on, together we'll be more than enough to take the city."

"Oh, sounds great, we'll be allowed to loot right? My men need stuff to take home."

Mathias waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, you'll be allowed to ransack the place. Just not too much okay? We can't have the people hating us more than they already do."

"Understood." The man nodded, "what's the big deal about this place anyways, shouldn't we be heading towards where Jannik is bunkered down? No offense to your King or anything but doesn't he need some help?"

"If you had any brains inside that helmet of yours you'd realize that this city is the only obstacle that…" The dirty blonde stopped mid-sentence, eyeing the sergeant suspiciously. "I shouldn't be telling you all of this."

A grin had never looked so arrogant to him as the one on that man's face. "You're right, you shouldn't have; fucking idiot, Varyn said you'd be stupid but I didn't think it would be this bad."

"What?!" Mathias demanded, halting his horse immediately and drawing his sword. It was too late though, as the 'sergeant' had already pulled out a horn and was bringing it to his lips. A moment later a blaring pitch blasted from the instrument, resounding throughout the forest and giving off an ominous echo.

Matthias looked all around him as the woods seemed to come alive and jump at him in an instant. Countless men burst from the trees and thick foliage that had engulfed the path in a matter of seconds, screaming with weapons drawn directed at the company of mercenaries that were now trapped.

He tried to quickly rally his men, to put up some kind of resistance and give him an opportunity to escape, but it was in vain as a small and hard object smashed into his head, throwing him off his horse and to the ground unconscious.

 _Hours later_

Varyn woke with a sudden start inside his tent. The same dreaded nightmare that had plagued and prevailed in his mind for years had returned tonight, forcing him awake as it ended, his body now covered in sweat and his heart racing. He climbed out of his sleeping bag, noticing Allistor sleeping beside him.

 _Damn it feels weird to see my nephew looking nearly as old as me._

Exiting the tent and washing his face off with water from a canteen, Varyn walked out to a campfire nearby with a lone figure seated on a log beside it. Already recognizing the light brown messy hair of the man before even getting closer, the Celt sat down opposite the young prince who was roasting a piece of meat over the flames.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked briefly, already knowing his reasoning for being up so late, especially after a tiring day like today was.

Varyn shook his head groggily, his eyes just peering over his hands that his face was buried in. He took a quick glance at the other kneeling figure besides Grecoff with a burlap sack over his head. "Were you about to start with him?"

"Yup, but it can wait, Lord knows he's not going anywhere." He replied, gently prodding the man who seemed rather unresponsive recently. "Same dream?"

"The only dream I seem to be having as of late." He responded, it was a hard matter to deal with, let alone talk about. Ever since Emrys' execution, which in part was caused directly by Varyn's failure to rescue him as a captive of 'King' Jannik, he had been having horrifying and reoccurring nightmares of the event; Emrys' footsteps up to the platform, the announcement of his alleged crimes, the executioner stepping forward and repositioning his hands on the heavy axe, and finally the blade's awful sound as it came down upon the prince's neck, ending his life in an instant, all while Varyn could do nothing but watch from a distance, his involvement already doing too much harm for him to intervene any further.

Grecoff sighed as sympathy for the man washed over him. "Varyn I know that it was a difficult thing to handle but you have to move on, no one blames you for what happened, we have Jannik for that. Besides I don't think Emrys was living any life worth living as a captive of that cunt."

"Yes but at least he was _alive_." Varyn contradicted. "And Jannik was fine until what I did, the main reason we're in this mess is because of me."

"That may be true, but isn't the position we're in now more favourable opposed to still being under the Kalmar yoke?"

"First of all we haven't finished this war just yet, and second, no disrespect Lord, but you sound as if you're justifying my actions and your brother's death as a means to an end."

Grecoff shook his head as he bit into his skewered and very much cooked meat. "I'm not, do you honestly believe that I don't I mind my brother being slain without ever getting a chance to truly live? It happened and we can't change that, that's all I can say. And besides we've practically wrestled the whole island back under our control, and now we've got one of the most valuable prisoners we could have ever asked for!" he exclaimed, once more nudging the man with the sack over his head, "We'll be done with this all come next spring."

"You sound like your father." He grinned.

The messy haired prince was glad to finally see his friend smile. "You say that all the time."

"Because he was a great man who I didn't truly appreciate until it was too late." He then glanced across the fire to meet the young man's eyes. "And every year you remind me more of him."

Grecoff's own smile soon disappeared as he stared at the ground. "Was Emrys like my father too?"

"Yes… but in a different way; you have your father's confidence and will, but also taking after your mother's more calm, collected, and cunning side. Your older brother on the other hand was bold, ambitious, and rather… pugnacious like your father, he was never afraid to get into a fight, which was what led to his untimely downfall." Varyn then paused, wanting to get something off his chest that had been bothering him for a while now. "Listen Grecoff, I know I've said it before but I am sincerely sorry for what I've done to your family… or rather my lack of action more so. First your father and now your brother, plus this whole situation we're in… I could have potentially prevented it all, and I apologize for that."

"Varyn, come on, we've done this countless times before. I don't blame you for anything that has happened, not my father nor my brother, we can't change the past. To be honest I think it's all had more of an effect on you than me. I only just wish I could remember him more, Emrys I mean, only brief flashes of memories come to mind whenever I think of him."

"I imagine some of them are of him always getting in trouble? He was quite the troublemaker when you guys were younger, liked to pick on you all the time too." Varyn said, lightening the mood of the conversation from the depressing direction it was heading.

The prince laughed aloud in reminisce of this fact. "Yeah! I just barely remember dad was always pulling him off of me, what did he-"

The two by the fire were suddenly cut short as a certain Scottish man sleepily walked up to them, yawning loudly. "Hey lads, whatchu' doing up now? Probably be daylight in a few hours."

"Just talking things around over, trying to make Varyn less pessimistic." Grecoff replied, waving him over to sit next to them.

Allistor nodded with a non surprised grin as he sat down besides the two. "Ah, not a easy thing to do from my experience. Especially when he's having these damned dreams of his."

"Sorry Allistor, did I wake you when I left the tent?"

"Nah, she did." He explained, jabbing a tired finger in the direction of the minor road that ran through the camp; a small entourage of soldiers and one rather recognizable brunette approaching them on horseback.

"Valérie?" Varyn questioned, standing up to meet the Burgundian. "You said you'd be here a week ago, nearly lost a battle earlier today without your support."

"Sorry about that, I know it's the middle of the night but I wanted to come as soon as possible. I had some miscommunications with some officials at the port of Flane- Flanfi- however you pronounce it, wouldn't let us access the shipyard and then leave the city for several days until we got things sorted out." She informed the group apologetically.

"Flaanisfirth." Varyn corrected her, sighing as he realized there was no reason for him to be upset with her, but he still tried to find fault in her actions anyways. "Well I guess you couldn't help that happening. Welcome to the party, only three years late."

Valérie looked a little embarrassed for second, "W-Well sorry that I had legal issues and administrative work to deal with my own country, and I sent half the men that you asked for beforehand didn't I?"

Varyn laughed, folding his arms to show he didn't care for her alibis. "Oh, apologies, I forgot how difficult the grueling tasks of filing through documents and managing meetings were in comparison to fighting a war."

"Whatever, just be glad that I'm here."

"Oh I am." He said deftly.

As she stepped closer to the fire she got a better view of the group. "Hey Allistor."

"S'up lassy." The Scottish man waved at her.

"And you must be Prince Grecoff," she said, addressing the youngest member of the group and reaching out her hand to shake his, "pleased to meet you, I'm Valérie Rûchout."

"Uh, greetings;" the Prince smiled, "gosh it feels weird to be surrounded by people whose collective age is like older than Rome."

"Hey, we may be centuries old, but we still look great at least. You in particular Val." Varyn said, winking at the slender brunette.

"Shut up you perv, and I told you ages ago to stop calling me that."

"Hey can't teach an old dog new tricks." He shrugged as she sat down with the others.

"Aren't you technically learning a new trick by calling me that only somewhat recently? That phrase has no basis for you."

"Whatever, I've never been good at idioms, at least English ones. God I wish the author could think of some Reikish ones, would add some depth to my culture." The Celt pouted.

"But it's a made up language, ya' expect him to put that much effort into it?" Scotland asked.

" _Touché_."

"Gosh I keep forgetting that you have a scar now, it's been like twelve years now and I'm still not used to it." Valérie said, leaning closer to the dirty blonde to observe it.

"Uh… Val?" He asked as she was getting noticeably close to the man's face.

She immediately caught what he meant and backed up, her eyes wide. "Uh- s-sorry! I wasn't thinking! I just wanted to see it better and it's dark out, so…" she trailed off awkwardly.

Varyn shrugged once more. "Uh, no worries, just curious what you were doing, but anyways I have this fucker right here to thank for it all." He said while pulling the sack off a man behind him that Valérie hadn't noticed before, under it revealed Mathias, bruised up and gagged at the mouth. "Dude, you seriously have to stop letting me beat your ass."

"Mathias? Why is he like that?" The Burgundian asked.

"Ah well we captured him today in that battle I mentioned earlier; knocked him out in the beginning of it with a rock and sling and since he probably felt so humiliated he just wouldn't shut his big ass mouth trying to annoy and insult the hell out of us, so until he starts letting up some useful information we'll keep him like this." Varyn said while ruffling the Scandinavian's long and messy hair. "Feel like talking now?" He asked. "Actually we already got a ton of information out of him already without him even being captured yet with our undercover agent who he just spilled all his secrets to, the dumbass." Varyn explained to Valérie, "But we still have yet to find out the biggest unsolved mystery: where's Jannik? So the question still stands son, feel like talking?"

Mathias only stared coldly at him.

"Ah well, it was worth a shot. A shame though, I was hoping to not have to resort to this." He remarked, picking up a metal rod with a gloved hand that had been sitting in the fire and was now glowing a fierce orange-red at its end. He brought it closer to the young man's face, the heat resonating onto his skin. "Would hate to scar your handsome little face like you did mine…" he trailed off, letting Mathias' resolve falter.

"Though I do like this new appearance you've given me, makes me look more dashing and dangerous, a rugged and rogue man thirsting for adventure." He said, pulling the rod away just ever so slightly. "So maybe I should thank you for that."

"But if that's the case maybe I should return the favour? It'll do wonders for your image I swear." And once more Varyn brought the burning hot metal within an inch of his face, sweat dripping from every portion of the Scandinavian's body.

"So, now you want to talk? And by the way it isn't really a question." The Celt demanded, smirking like a madman.

But Mathias remained silent, not that he could even make much sound to begin with with his mouth still gagged. But even so he didn't move an inch, despite the clear sign of fear in his eyes.

Varyn's grin immediately vanished. "Insolent little brat, always were one." He said, finally pulling the gag out of the man's mouth.

"Last chance." He warned, but when no response was given the Celt shrugged and drew the rod back to wind it up into a swing.

(Why would he swing it instead of just pressing it forward? I don't know, ask Mace Windu when he was about to kill Palpatine. Oh yeah it's for the convenience of the story.)

"Wait!"

Varyn's hand suddenly stopped as he turned to look at the brunette whose own hand was now gripping his wrist, restraining him. "What are you doing?!" He seethed.

"Varyn be rational! You don't have to resort to this! This will make you no better than him! There are other ways to extract information!"

"What are you talking about?! Do you have any comprehension of the scope of what he's done to my country? To my lands and people? You think I'm just going to go easy on him?"

"No, and I don't expect you to. I'm just stating that isn't the best way to go about things. You can't go through life fueled by vengeance. Listen, you're probably pumped full of emotion right now. Why don't you take a breather and let me handle this?"

"Are you serious?" He just about laughed at the connotation. "Valérie no disrespect but you have only just arrived here, Allistor's been here for about two years and I've been in this for the past almost fifteen. Frankly, I believe you have no right to have a say in this, this is between Mathias and me-"

"Mathias and I." The Scandinavian chuckled, the first words he had spoken in many hours.

"Shut the fuck up ya' dour prick!" Varyn shouted, kneeing Mathias in the stomach so that he doubled over in pain.

"Wait Varyn, maybe she's right." Grecoff said, standing up to meet the dirty blonde. "You do seem a bit… intense to say the least, maybe you should let her try to talk to him, I like the way she uses her words."

"Are ya' kidding me?! Thirteen years I've waited ta' get back at this pathetic piece of shit and right _nae_ as I'm about ta' have the most satisfying experience of my life ya' _gaunn_ ta' stop me?! What the fuck?!" Varyn screamed, his anger seemingly skyrocketing.

"Varyn as your King and friend I order you to sit down. _Now._ " Grecoff demanded sternly, remaining firm and reminding him of his authority.

The Celt almost looked like he wanted nothing more than to strangle his prince right then and there, but in an instant his livid wrath seemed to burst and dissipate. He sighed as he lowered the burning hot rod that was still in his gloved hand and sat down behind Mathias, grumbling to himself and folding his arms in discontent.

"Quite a show." Allistor whistled sharply.

"Shut it ya' fuckin' ginger." He snapped back.

"Oi' I like how your accent gets more prominent when your angry."

Deciding it to be in his best interest to stay silent, Varyn slumped in his seat with frustration.

"The floor's yours." Grecoff addressed the brunette, gesturing his hand over Mathias.

The brunette curtsied to the young man, "Thank you, your Highness." Walking over to the Scandinavian, Valérie crouched down in front of him and brought his disinterested face to meet hers.

"Hello Mathias, I won't ask how you're doing as I think I can already tell, but I believe that this is only our second time meeting one another, _oui_?"

The Dane nodded only slightly, a bit arrogantly in fact, as if the woman before him wasn't worth his time. "You could have at least brought your more busty girlfriend Varyn… instead you've brought this flat chested hag." he called back to the man behind him.

Varyn brought his boot down upon his spine with an unsettling cracking sound. "I don't think you're really in a position to mouth off to anyone here Mathias, so you can either talk or shut the fuck up as you get gagged again. And are you talking about Julchen? She's little more than a teenager you sick pervert!'

As the already injured man reeled from the excruciating pain in his back he still found it in himself to laugh despite his situation. "Well… at least _she_ has tits."

About to inflict more harm to the beaten Dane, Valérie stopped Varyn before he could do anything else, earning yet another unsatisfied grumble from the Celt.

"I'm going to choose to forget your remarks about my appearance. Let's instead look at you and this huge mess your in. Mathias be reasonable, I've learned of what's been happening on this island for the past two decades and now that I'm here myself it's even more apparent than before that your cause is completely hopeless, you should understand that more than anyone. I mean honestly, you've lost support from The Union itself, your only legitimate ally, you suffered a resounding defeat at the Battle of Hannasheath just a few months ago, nobles who made up your powerbase in Reikland are deserting you each day, and so forth. Mathias what do you hope to accomplish in continuing and dragging out this now pointless conflict? To remain in power for maybe another two years at most? Jannik's ousting is inevitable, there's no denying that, but it can be your choice as to when, and how many more lives have to be lost towards your meaningless cause. The idea of a fully united Nordic kingdom can't be achieved, at least not in these circumstances, I advise that it's high time you recognize that before you do something even more stupid and send more men to be slaughtered. Do you really want to go down in history as this stupidly blind idealist who cannot tell when he's been beaten? Mathias, I believe you're smarter than this and a better man too, and a wise man will accept peace when it is offered and most desirable. So please, lay down your arms, call your men off, they won't be harmed, only the native traitors. Do this and tell us where Jannik is hidden and no more blood has to be shed, well at least none of yours or your people. Please Mathias, no one else needs to die."

For once the Dane shut up as he seemed to think his words over carefully for the first time. After a moment he turned behind him to look up at Varyn. "Can you promise that my men and I will be allowed safe passage home?"

The Celt was taken aback as Mathias seemed to finally be cooperating with them for the first time all because of the woman's words. He didn't know what to say, nearly fifteen years of war and death flashed before him and now he suddenly was presented with the solution to end it all. Was he even ready to let the Dane go after all the torment he had caused him?

His thoughts were cut short however as Grecoff responded in his stead. "We guarantee it Mathias, no harm shall come to you or your men, my only quarrel now is with Jannik and his supporters, right Varyn?" He looked at the man not for confirmation but for obedience.

He quickly nodded to his prince seeing no point in arguing anymore. "Of course there will be a peace treaty and compensation to be agreed upon but that will come later."

"Then it's decided!" Grecoff shouted enthusiastically. "So where is he?"

With the question the group had longed for for so long, everyone's eyes were suddenly glued to the Scandinavian for his answer.

He was hesitant, as to be expected in his situation, but soon enough he stuttered out an answer. "J-Jolanishølm. He's been hiding at Jolanishølm ever since the Battle of Hannasheath." He sighed as he let out the valuable information. "You'll keep your promise right?"

Prince Grecoff smiled gratefully at him and laid a hand over his heart. "You have my word. Thank you Mathias."

Varyn on the other hand was anything but joyful. "Jolanishølm?! The fucking coward went there of all places?! Damn him, I should have guessed someone like him would go there! _Godh fjaddyn_!"

Allistor and Valérie looked at each other, confused at the man's outrage. "Jolanishølm? Where's that? What wrong with it?" The woman asked.

Reikland however just sat down intensely frustrated, his head resting in his hands as he stared at the ground. The Burgundian instead directed her attention to the Prince as Varyn didn't seem to want to elaborate. "Prince Grecoff? What is Jolanishølm?"

The young man looked troubled as he stared at his companion and advisor that was in obvious pain. "Despite being the future king of these lands, even my knowledge of it is limited, I do know that it is a castle on the eastern island of Fiëskaar, which is still under Jannik's control, but other than that I don't know anything besides that Varyn has some personal issues with the place that he mentioned to me once before while studying a map of the Kingdom."

Now the group returned to look at the Celt still clearly thinking over things. Allistor took the chance to sit next to his friend and patted his back. "Hey man, it's alright, why don't ya' just tell us what wrong? What's at Jolanishølm?"

Varyn seemed to nearly flinch at the Scotsman's touch but soon settled down and took in a deep breath before addressing those around him. "Jolanishølm is not just a castle, it's a nearly impenetrable fortress on the coast of the island of Fiëlskaar, fucker is going to make us cross the sea to get to him. Anyways there's nothing too special about the building itself, just the way that it's positioned on the cliff side. It's for the most part an island with the only thing connecting it to the mainland being a tiny isthmus that acts as a bridge so there's only one way to access it, making it a ridiculously easy bottleneck to defend. I guess you could technically attack it from the sea but there would be no way to have a sizable force scale the cliff side, especially while under the fire of arrow towers and such. I have no idea how I would even approach it, much less assault it with siege equipment."

"Could we not blockade it and starve the defenders out?" Allistor asked.

"That's assuming we can defeat Jannik's hired merchant navy. Our own is in shambles ever since the first war and we don't have the funds to buy them out, he exhausted our treasury years ago on these mercenaries. The only thing what's left of our navy is good for is transportation, and that is all."

"Okay… yes that all sounds bad, but Varyn you looked like you were about to have a panic attack, is there something else about that place?" Valérie asked concernedly.

Once more he sat there in silence while contemplating things in his mind, not even acknowledging if he heard her. Tired of his refusal to answer her, Valérie began to raise her voice. "Varyn. Please this is important if we are to understand our situation. What happened at-"

"I was imprisoned there." He said suddenly, interrupting her. "About two hundred years ago. I was sent there for… reasons and was left there for almost twenty years because they forgot about me. The whole time I had nearly zero human interaction, food, water, or sunlight… you can imagine what that does to a man… it is not a place I wish to return to… but I guess I have to."

The whole group sat in silence, his explanation shutting them all up as they took in his words. After a time the Burgundian decided to say something. "Varyn I'm… we're sorry, we didn't know."

"Of course you didn't, why would you?" He asked quietly. "It's in the past, yet it seems fate would have me return once more. Lord knows how much I would hate to be inside that wretched place once more."

Allistor rose to stand up immediately as the Reikish man finished his sentence. "Wait, I've got an idea! Varyn you said that it is nearly impossible to lay siege to this fortress right?"

He nodded in response. "Yes, quite impossible."

"But what if we don't need to?"

" _Avuik?"_

"You said that the castle is impregnable from the outside, so why waste men and resources besieging it?"

"What are you getting at Allistor?" Grecoff inquired, interlacing his fingers with intrigue at what we was to say.

"I'm saying that we have someone right here who most likely knows the entire layout of the building like the backside of his hand, right?" He asked, his direction towards the Celt.

Varyn was taken aback by the question but soon regained his thoughts. "Uh, I mean… yeah? I spent the vast majority of my time there in a dark, cold, and silent cell and it was two hundred years ago… but yes I would say that I know the inside fairly well."

"There ya' go!" The Scottish man exclaimed excitedly. "You take Valérie, Varyn, and I and a few ships to this Jolanishølm and let us scale the cliffs, sneak into the castle, there must be a few entrances besides the main gate I assume. But we get in, sneak through the inside until we find Jannik and kill him! Then the whole Pan-Nordic side will collapse without a figurehead!"

"And if Jannik is not there or we can't find him or we are captured?" Varyn questioned, not too impressed with his friend's plan.

Allistor seemed to deflate a little in comparison to the sudden burst of energy he had just a second ago. "Oh… well, we plan things out more, we spy on him and his activities, find out his schedule and routine, where he will be and when, what guard positions are placed around the area at different times and their lines of sight, etc. We can do it, it'll just take time to sort everything out."

Varyn still was not happy with this and drew his sword, setting the tip against Mathias' throat. "And if our friend here is lying and Jannik is not at Jolanishølm? Maybe he'll take his men and leave just to return at a different place to strike once more while we're occupied at Fiëlskaar? Or possibly try and return home and convince the queen to reinstate her support for his cause with a new campaign being planned?"

The Dane looked up at him with an intense fear and with the first sincere expression he had ever witnessed from the young man in a long time. "Varyn no! I swear I won't! I told the truth and that's all there is to it! I've truly lost! My people are exhausted from fighting and your lands have proved immensely hard to conquer!"

"Varyn you will not hurt him!" Grecoff demanded. "I gave him my word!"

The Celt smirked maddeningly as he nodded slightly and re-sheathed his sword. A tangible expression of relief could be felt from Mathias, but only to disappear as Varyn immediately kneeled down to within inches of his face and grabbed his hair, pulling his head back to meet his own. "You'd better kiss the ground where Grecoff stands because he is the only thing stopping me right now from beating you senseless until you are at the brink of death, and trust me, I know what that feels like. You caused both my people and I so much torment that I should hang you for it. So know this you pathetic child, if you ever give me even the slightest reason to believe that you're going against your word I _will_ hunt you down, I _will_ find you, and I _will_ torture you until your mind breaks from agonizing pain that you can't even begin to imagine, and all of which will be done with the greatest pleasure from me; and _nothing_ will stop me. And while I cannot make you a dead man, I can make you wish you were one. Do you understand me?"

Mathias nodded as much as he could with his head restrained. Sweat dripping down his face could be seen in the firelight.

"Good. And if you believe that I can't do that let me remind that I have personally beaten you twice already, don't think I can't do it a third time, son. Remember that I lived for nearly two centuries as a Viking while you were just a babe. And while I am now Christian, I still do have some blood lust left in me, particularly for those who wish to conquer my lands un-rightfully."

"I-It was u-unification." He stuttered.

"What was that?" Varyn asked, bringing his ear closer to Mathias' mouth. "I'm not quite sure I heard you right."

"It w-was not conquest, it was unification." He repeated.

Varyn shook his head slightly. "No it was conquest and nothing more. Say otherwise and I will break your back this very instance. I know I already herniated a disk in your spine earlier, I can do much more than that if needed."

"Varyn no please!" Mathis shouted fearfully. "I swear on my mother, I swear on Astrid's name Varyn that I will never try to step foot in your lands ever again! Just let me be! Please!"

Most of what he had said before was just a desperate attempt to free himself from his current situation, but it was his last line that struck Varyn, who in turn let go of his hair and stood back up, once more nodding his head. "Okay, you swear on your mother?" He asked cutting the restraints on the Dane and reaching his hand down to him.

"I do." Mathias replied, shaking the older man's hand.

"It's settled then." Varyn then hoisted the injured man up to his feet and brought him close to whisper in his ear. "Do not make me regret this decision."

The Scandinavian nodded fiercely in response, and smiled. "You won't, I promise." He then turned to address Grecoff but was stopped by Varyn's hand on his shoulder.

"But lastly before I truly let you go, and believe me it is _I_ who is letting you go, I must ask a question."

Mathias visibly gulped hard with fear at whatever he might have in store for him.

"You speak of your mother, you swear upon her name; but tell me, what did you truly know about Astrid?"

The light blonde seemed a bit surprised by the question and quickly found himself thinking things over in his mind trying to think of how to respond to the Celt. After a few moments of silence from the Dane though Varyn stared at him coldly in the eyes, a matter rather easy for him to perform with his steel grey irises. "That's right, you know nothing of her, I would prefer that you wouldn't pretend like you did."

And with that the Celt sat down upon his log, the energy seemingly sapped from him after the day's course of events.

"Is there some place I can rest for now?" Mathias asked, addressing the prince.

"Yes, I'll have a servant bring you over." Grecoff said while signaling down a ward that was walking through the camp.

"Thank you Lord." He bowed respectfully and began to follow the ward that just arrived. Once more he was stopped, however this time by a certain brunette.

"Wait just a second." Valérie instructed the ward, and then quickly slapped Mathias across the face as hard as she could. A red and puffy hand mark appearing on his cheek immediately as soon as she finished.

"That's for mocking my chest size." She huffed, and with that Mathias finally left the group, suffering enough already from them.

Varyn was rather amused by this action. "You seem rather fond of slapping people my dear, perhaps you should make a profession out of it?"

"It's a good way to vent out your frustration, a stress reliever you know?" She replied, stretching her slapping arm out with a satisfying crack of her muscles.

He grinned at the brunette. "Indeed it seems that way. Maybe I should try it sometime."

"Might I suggest practicing on yourselves first?" She mocked. "So anyways why did you call him 'son'?"

The Celt's ears pricked up with intrigue. "Hmm? You noticed that? What an observant gal you are."

"Don't change the subject."

"Okay, okay," he muttered, "I never found out if he was actually my son, probably isn't but there's a chance, plus it irks him so I like to use it."

Valérie looked shocked. "Wait he could possibly be your son? How?! What does that even mean?!"

"Eh, I'll tell you later; story for another day… or century." Varyn shrugged, he then walked up to Allistor and clapped him on his back. "But this lad right here _is_ my nephew, of that I am certain."

"He is? I mean I remember hearing about Britannia a while ago but I guess I never realized the connection… God I feel so out of the loop."

"Don't forget that also makes your crush Arthur my nephew too. So if you wanna marry him prepare to have an uncle Varyn! Oh we'd just be one big happy family wouldn't we?" The dirty blonde mocked.

"Concerning more pressing matters, we have still yet to decide on a plan of attack on Jannik." Prince Grecoff stepped in, wanting to end this conversation soon, they had wasted enough time already.

"Well, seeing as I'm no military theorist or battle hardened man such as yourselves, combined with the fact that I'm extremely tired from riding through most of the night to get here, I'm going to say goodnight, and I'll see you in the morning." Valérie said, giving a slight bow to the group and Prince and then taking her leave to set up a tent to sleep in.

"But morning is in about two hours lass!" Allistor called out.

"Then I'll see you in the afternoon!" She replied, not looking back.

"Are you sure you want to set up a tent in the dark and as tired as you apparently are?!" Varyn joined in. "You could share a tent with us two! Nice and cozy with natural heating too!"

Her answer was a middle finger and a quickening of her step.

Allistor gave a joking sharp whistle, but both their eyes were synchronized in following the brunette as she left them. "Ya' know I pictured her the cold bitchy type, and while that is not a totally inaccurate observation, I'll say that she seems like a rather interesting woman."

Varyn sighed, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't agree."

The Scotsman chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "You'll tell me how she rides, eh?"

He noticed the older man's glare and stopped joking. "I'm kidding, I swear I'm not a chauvinistic pig. But anyways you deserve to have love in your life again, treat her fair and well; I'd hate to see my uncle brooding and alone for the rest of his life."

"You make it sound as if it's a definite that we'll get together. And 'chauvinistic'? Does that word even exist in this time period?"

He shrugged."Probably not. Now back to what I was saying, I just see no reason for you not to, that's all."

The two however were cut short of their chat as a figure draped his arms around both of them. "How about instead of discussing Varyn's love life, we finish planning the event that will grant us peace once and for all?"

"Excuse my desires of the flesh your majesty," Varyn tried to say solemnly, but couldn't help but smiling. "but should you not also be concerned with that matter too? You will need a wife to restart the dynasty and soon, or do you want to stay a virgin until then? Need to know how to please your woman."

"Ah but you see I'm not a dirty pagan like you." Grecoff replied with the same humour. "I'll stay celibate like a good pious man until I find a suitable wife. Now, may we finally decide what we are going to do at Jolanishølm? Or shall we wait until you Varyn have the balls to do something with your live and find a lover instead of moping around like you always do?"

Allistor laughed under his breath. "Lord I'm afraid even I would die of old age before that happens."

The Celt shouldered his way out his Prince's grip. "Alright, alright, fine, we'll plan the attack. Starting out I want to say that I don't like Allistor's idea: it's too risky, too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. And bringing Valérie? What are you thinking?"

The ginger man shrugged. "She didn't raise any objection."

"Maybe she was hesitant to show weakness in front of us. But there's no way she can go, you heard it from her herself, she's no warrior or shield maiden of old. And she's a woman, what do you think would happen to her if she was captured?"

"Something that I would not like to happen to me I can tell ya' that."

"Exactly, Valérie is out of the question."

"If I may," Grecoff interjected. "As _I am_ your ruler, I would suggest that you do bring Valérie. She seems a sensible woman with a thirst of adventure. She'll bring a level-headedness and alternate viewpoint to your mission that neither of you could, and plus as a person of… your status as nations, shouldn't she know how to fight and plan out things? This could be a good learning experience for her."

Varyn bowed. "Lord I will advise against it but if it is your command I will bring her. That is suggesting though that we will be using Allistor's plan, which I have made my objection to already known."

"Why so?" The prince questioned. "I think it is a good plan, Allistor's right, if we study and spy ahead of time things will turn out right for us and Jannik will never expect it. And I can already think of what you might suggest Varyn."

"And what's that?"

"You think that we should attack him when he's away from the castle, on a hunting trip perhaps."

"That would be optimal, yes."

"But tell me why would he leave the castle? There is no reason to, and he can't risk being noticed or seen by anyone. One step out from behind his walls and he jeopardizes his whole idea of hiding."

Varyn bit his lip, not wanting to accept what he was thinking was going to happen. "He'll get anxious Lord, he'll want fresh air away from the confinement of the walls that will seem like a prison. I've been there, it is not a cheerful place."

"And how would we find out about him leaving the castle, if he even does which would be a rare occasion? He would tell almost no one, let alone someone who would let it loose enough to reach our ears. No Varyn, you'll have to sneak in and attack, there's no way around it."

Varyn sat down upon a log by the fire and spat in it. "Fine, but I want the largest and grandest feast you could ever fucking imagine to be held when we're done, and Jannik's head will be the centerpiece of it all. _And_ , you will take into account my policies regarding foreign diplomacy and the protection of the Kingdom in the future."

Grecoff nodded in acceptance. "It will be done."

"Then let us prepare for this attack…" Varyn said quietly. "And may God have no mercy upon Jannik's soul."

Translations:

 _Gaunn:_ Reikish for 'going'

 _Nae:_ Reikish for 'now'

 _Godh fjaddyn!:_ Reikish equivalent to 'God Damnit!' but literally means: 'God Fuck!'


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

-Retribution-

Winter, 1392

Jolanishølm, Island of Fiëlskaar

East of Reikland

"I can't believe I agreed to do this." Varyn muttered, latching his hand to a suitable crack in the rock face.

"Shut up ya' pansy!" Scotland shouted from below him. "I don't want to hear your negative energy when I'm staring up your ass! If you fall I'll be going too!"

"If you're scared about falling Allistor, might I suggest a tighter grip?" Valérie said from the right of the two men.

"I'm not scared! I would just prefer to not have my head split open from falling fifty feet! And how do you seem to be doing this with ease, especially when the only light we have to see is the moon?!"

"I like to climb." She replied briefly, jumping a short distance to a higher position.

"Like a fucking mountain goat." The Scotsman sighed, breathing heavily.

"I thought your people were called 'Highlanders' for a reason Allistor?" Varyn joked.

"That's because we live in the highlands! It doesn't include climbing fucking sheer vertical cliffs!" He yelled, almost slipping with his hand not reaching its intended target. "And stop getting me angry! I'm trying to concentrate here!"

Not wanting to jeopardize their important mission, his two companions decided to respect his request and remained silent for a time, making good progress up the cliff. It was a difficult climb, but manageable if you went slowly, which was necessary for the group as they weren't climbing with ropes for safety. If one of them fell they would have to be left behind and taken to safety by the crew of the small ship that brought them here.

This fact and the true danger that they were getting themselves into didn't even come to their realization until they were almost to the top of the cliff, a good eighty feet above the dark and tumultuous sea and craggy rocks below.

The three were all almost in line with each other, Valérie was the farthest up the cliff and on the right, Varyn on the left, and Allistor in the middle slightly below both of them. As being the least experienced climber it was the ginger man who nearly foiled their plan.

Allistor had been struggling the whole climb up but as they neared the end he seemed to be getting the hang of it. He was more energetic and daring in choosing his steps and handholds, probably excited to get this ordeal over with. But just a few feet from the ledge he hastily reached out for an unstable lip of rock. It stayed in place at first, but as soon as he tried to lift himself up and put his weight onto it, it broke off unexpectedly and fell down below, almost taking him with it as he began to slip down the rock face. Luckily Valérie managed to grab his wrist in time and was able to take the momentum of his fall while remaining stable with only one arm.

"Holy fuck! Oh my God! I nearly killed myself!" The Scotsman yelled, fear in his voice.

"You wouldn't have died." Varyn said casually, he had faced human death a few times before and was no longer fazed by it as much as he used to be.

"You know what I mean!" He shouted angrily, then looked up towards his savior. "Thank you so much Valérie."

"No problem. But didn't I tell you to hold on tight?" The brunette grunted as she held onto the full weight of the man with one arm, all the while as he was swaying. "Damn it will be difficult lifting you up to a position you can hold onto."

"Oh please take your time." Allistor jested.

"Please don't, we have company." Varyn called out quietly. His two companions looked up to see a guard approaching the edge of the cliff, he was whistling though, so he probably hadn't seen them yet.

"Fuck! Why is he here?! We spied on this place for months and never once saw a guard walk out to here!" Allistor muttered.

Varyn was going to respond but was silenced as the man reached the edge, somehow still not noticing the three figures right below him. Oblivious as to what was happening the guard continued to whistle as he began to unbuckle his belt and reached into his pants.

"Oh God, is he about to…?" Valérie woefully whispered.

"Don't worry Val! I'll protect your virgin eyes!" Varyn shouted as quietly as he could. He then drew a knife and hurled it at the man, but gravity seemed to be their enemy today and it harmlessly bounced off the man.

"Fuck!" The Nordic man yelled, their cover blown as the guard looked below him for the first time and saw the three nations clinging (or hanging onto those clinging) to the cliff.

Before he could do anything, Varyn pulled himself up as fast as he was able to and reached with one arm out towards the man. He managed to grab his ankle and yanked his arm back as hard as he could, pulling the guard off the side and to his death, a loud crack being heard as he hit the rocks.

"Whoa, that was close." The dirty blonde huffed with exhaustion.

"You're telling me; I almost got pissed on." Allistor griped.

 _Half an hour later_

Being settled on more flat and stable ground the three had found their way to a small gated drainage opening in the walls that allowed a tiny creak to flow through the castle, and which led to the cliff side. The wrought iron grate that blocked the opening most likely wasn't the same one from two hundred years ago, but it was still considerably aged, as there was barely a spot on the metal's surface that wasn't rusted and weakened.

"Damn, how'd you remember this thing?" Scotland asked, clearly impressed.

"In the first year of my imprisonment I almost escaped. This was my planned escape route as my cell was just underneath the exit, I could constantly hear the water flowing and knew that I was at the base of the castle walls, so I guessed that there was some exit for the creek, and I was right."

"You said 'almost escaped'?" The Burgundian woman inquired.

"Yeah, turns out that a year of nearly no food, water, or sunlight seriously weakens your body. I only got past the first guard before collapsing of exhaustion." He sighed from the memory. "After that little escapade I was put back in my cell, this time with absolutely no water or food, and for about sixteen years."

"Dear Lord Varyn," Allistor started, "life has really thrown you a shit hand."

The Nordic man shrugged. "Eh, I deal with it. Anyways I guess it worked out for me in the long run because here we are with a way in."

"And how exactly is this a way in…?" Valérie asked. "Sure it's an opening and the metal is rusted but you don't expect us to be able to break through it do you?"

"Oh you underestimate me my dear Valérie." Varyn said as he approached the grate and pulled out a vial from his pack. "You see there is a liquid in here called 'spirits of salt', it's an acid which can eat away at metals, especially weakened ones such as we have right here." As he explained he poured a liberal amount over each of the bars that were connected directly into the stone of the walls.

The ginger man nodded with approvement "Well that's neat, but how long does it take?"

Varyn grinned nervously. "Oh you know… time."

"Any specific amount?" Valérie asked, worried at what his answer might be.

"Maybe in about an hour or so? No more than two?"

"An hour or two?! Varyn this wasn't a part of our plan! We were supposed to be in and out! We had this all planned out for three months now! The guard positions and time schedules, the moonlight and it's angle at different times! This messes it all up! When you said 'I know a way in' we assumed you meant a small door or something we could just burst our way through!" The woman yelled, beyond irritated at her partner's stupidity.

"Hey, this was the only way in without our asses being captured and that's all there is to it! I knew that it wouldn't go along well with the plan, which was shit to begin with, sorry Allistor," he apologized to the Scotsman. "so I didn't say anything. Sorry but it's the only way and there's no way around it. And it's not like our plan is ruined, we took into account extra time and we already know when the guards will shift, we'll be fine if we just stick to the plan with some minor adjustments."

"So what are we supposed to do for almost two hours?!" Allistor demanded.

"Well… I do have something to help pass the time while I continuously re-apply the acid… " Varyn trailed off, reaching back into his pack. "You see I have this fun old game I used to play back in my ancient days called _ludus latrunculorum_ … and let me tell you… it's pretty heckin' swell."

 _Some time later_

"Goddammit Varyn, this is the eighth time you've won in a row! I swear this game is rigged!" The ginger shouted in frustration.

"And I swear that you just suck at playing. Honestly the rules aren't that hard to understand, you just have to pay attention. We can try another round, you just have to watch." Varyn sighed, would he ever find a worthy opponent for his beloved game?

"No, you know what, fuck this! I'm done with this stupid game!" Allistor raged and flipped the board over, sending pieces flying.

"Hey! This board and it's pieces are meaningful to me! Don't just fling them wherever you like while we're outside in the dark next to a stream!"

"Fine, whatever, I'll look for them, you just keep checking how your acid is working. Valérie will you help me look for these pieces?" He asked the brunette while Varyn went over to the drain. "This grass is long and there's hardly any light."

The woman who hadn't played the game but rather watched nodded. "Even though it is your fault, I'll be a nice girl and help you."

"How… generous." He muttered.

A few minutes later with the game pieces being collected and packed up, Varyn walked back over to his friends with good news. "Welp, I think it's set, the bars are thin enough so that we can break through them."

The two looked at him excitedly, ready to finally finish carrying out their mission which had been in development for over three months now. With Allistor helping him, the two men wrenched the grate that blocked their way in out from the wall.

"Now let's get this over with. And Allistor, try not to fuck up this time." Varyn said.

"No promises here." His nephew grinned.

"Fuck you, you ginger bitch."

 _Time skip, because I'm too lazy to write about them sneaking around for a few hours_

Varyn had his back to the wall as he signaled for his two companions to advance further down the hallway, waiting for the guards to rotate positions so as not to be seen.

Valérie and Allistor moved ahead down the hallway, and stopped at an intersection when they saw two guards far down the left hall, guarding a stairway that led to Jannik's quarters. Or at least it should have, according to their spying over the the past few months.

"Good. Everything's going as it should. Let's-" Varyn began but was stopped as he heard footsteps coming from behind them.

"Shit!" Allistor whispered. "I thought they were supposed to circle around towards the courtyard?! Why are they coming back here?"

"I don't know, but we must do something… like kill them." The Nordic man said, about to unsheathe his dagger.

"No!" Valérie quietly shouted, pushing his hand away from his weapon. "We stick to the plan! We'll just use the letter now, it'll have the same effect."

Varyn looked down at her coldly, but nodded and stood straight, walking out into the coming guards' line of sight.

" _Standsning!_ "

The three turned around to see two armoured guards approaching them with a quickened step as opposed to before. One of them, who appeared to be of higher ranking, walked up to them with his hand on his sword, ready to take it out of need be.

" _Hvem er du? Hvad laver du?_ " He asked.

At this, both Scotland and Burgundy eyes' opened widely, not expecting the men to speak Danish, but German as most of the mercenaries did. But Varyn walked forwards to meet the man, and pulled a piece of parchment from his bag to give to him.

" _Vi er fra Jarlxö. Vi blev sendt af Hertug Angær… Jeg har et brev til … 'ham'_."

The guard quickly took the letter from the Celt and opened it, inspecting the seal and quality of it all. He was most likely not able to read but Varyn could tell that he could understand the concept of checking seals to make sure they were real.

For a few seconds the group of nations held their breath with fear, worried that he might not accept it, but luckily he lowered the parchment to address Varyn instead of immediately trying to call them out on their farce.

(Still speaking in Danish) "Who's the woman?" He asked, nodding slightly to Valérie.

"She's with us, one of Duke Angær's personal couriers."

Still not satisfied, he continued to question the Celt. "I wasn't notified of your coming. Why?"

"Excuse me for assuming that you might not be able to read, but the contents of that letter will describe details about the Reikish's plans to take hold of Fiëlskaar, even if they don't know 'he's' here. It's news that we just received and Duke Angær sent us as soon as possible. We just arrived too so maybe the word hasn't spread. Either way it's imperative that we are allowed to see 'him' and bring this information to him."

The guard began to fold the letter. "I will take this to him, and you three can leave."

Varyn snatched the parchment from his hands and took a step forwards, looking down at the guard. "No. We will take this to him, and you'll lead the way. Duke Angær ordered for us to see him and you don't want to irritate one of your last supporters now do you?"

The man hesitated for second, there wasn't any fear in his eyes as he took in the scarred and taller man before him, but he could tell that he wasn't someone to mess with.

"You're friends, do they have nothing to say?" The guard pestered, curious about their silence.

Varyn stepped back to stand by his friends. "Nothing more than what that needs to be anymore."

"Fine." He said succinctly. "I'll take you, follow me."

Reikland waited a second as the two guards began to walk forwards until he let out a deep sigh. Following behind, Valérie nudged his back.

"You speak Danish? I thought we were expecting them to be German mercenaries."

"I'm not one hundred percent fluent, but yes." He briefly whispered back.

As they neared the previous two guards that were standing besides the stairwell, the higher ranking guard that led them there stopped before the door to speak to the two standing besides it.

"We have messengers here from Duke Angær, news about the Reikish for 'him'."

The guard on left by the door nodded and made to open it, gesturing for the three to come in. They were about to but were stopped as Valérie felt a hand grab her arm. The three then turned around to see the main head guard from before gripping her tightly. "You two can go. The woman stays with us."

Varyn made a step towards him to get between them, seeing Valérie look at him worriedly. "I don't see that as being necessary."

'I don't care what you see it as, she's staying here."

"For what purpose exactly?"

The man looked flustered, "What purpose? Why to ensure the King's safety, we'll keep her here to make sure you don't try anything, why else?"

Varyn took another step forwards. "Is that so? Or is it so you can touch her and do whatever you please without penalty?"

"Well… I can't say that that's completely out of the picture, this whore has no right to see-"

The man was going to continue but stopped as he felt the cold metal of Varyn's dagger upon his throat.

"You will unhand her. And watch your tongue." The Celt demanded.

The three other guards immediately drew their swords and directed them at the three nations, one for each.

"Varyn…" Valérie said anxiously under her breath, the tension in the air rising exponentially.

Varyn glanced at her to see her gripping her own knife under her cloak, but turned his attention back towards the man whose life he held at the flick of his wrist. "I said, you will unhand her. Now." He repeated.

The man's fear was finally visible as the blade pressed into his skin. He then gestured for the other guards to lower their weapons as he let Valérie's arm go, letting it fall to her side.

Varyn withdrew his dagger back into its sheath. "Wise choice."

The three were then allowed to the staircase in peace as the two guards from before left them, leaving only the two ones that were guarding the door initially to deal with them.

"Alright, no weapons before the King, we'll take them now if you don't min-" the first guard began, closing the heavy wooden door behind them, but didn't finish as he found it hard to speak with a dagger now through his jugular.

"I don't think so." Varyn said, turning to see Allistor finishing off the other. As both sank to the floor, the men grabbed their bodies in order to move them. "Now that I think about it it probably would have been better to wait until we were at the top of the stairs to kill them." he muttered from the weight. "Guess we'll have to find a window on the way up to throw them out of instead."

Some time later along with two less bodies, the three reached the top of the stairs and the door that led to their final destination. Approaching it, Varyn hesitated slightly, his hand gripping the doorknob. "Think our men are prepared if things turn sour?" he asked the two.

They had planned and set out about fifty soldiers outside the walls to come after the three nations along with some inside informers in the castle itself, those who had acted as spies in the months prior, ready to act if matters took a turn for the worst.

Allistor laid a hand on his shoulder. "Mate, we'll be fine. Now let's go kill a bitch."

The Nordic man grinned as he opened the doorway, revealing behind it what they had been planning for all along. Jannik, alone.

The 'King' was hunched over at his desk, reading some document before he noticed the three. And when he did he slowly rose from his chair, settling his hand on his desk, ready to spring to action at the sight of these strangers.

He had been a strapping young man, tall, luscious hair, a nice smile, handsome with a confident aura. All of that seemed to be gone as his hair had streaks of grey in it, his skin wrinkled more so than what would have been expected of a man his age, and his eyes carried a fretful look, though maybe that was due to seeing three armed intruders burst into his room unannounced.

Varyn drew his sword which had been concealed this whole time and pointed it at the man. "Hey-ya Jannik, recognize me?"

"A-Are you Varyn? Dear God you look exactly the same as b-before…" The man said as he withdrew to his bedside table which held a knife on it.

Noticing this action the dirty blonde waved his finger disapprovingly. "Ah ah ah… I wouldn't do that if I were you. But anyways thanks for the compliment, can't say the same for you however, you look terrible. Not surprised though, considered what's happened since you plunged this Kingdom into chaos."

Jannik gulped anxiously. "Y-You're here to kill me aren't you?"

"Ah, right you are. Guess you do have a brain up there." Varyn said before lunging at him.

The King grabbed his knife to defend himself, but not having almost thirteen hundred years of swordsmanship skills, he could do little against the Celtic man. With his sword, Varyn swung at the blade in his target's hand, the heavy metal instantly flinging the knife from his hand, disarming him. Realizing his hopelessness, Jannik immediately fell to his knees, and lowered his head to beg for his life; that which now was held at the Celt's blade tip as it rested upon his throat.

"Please, have mercy on me! I beg you, please! Take me captive, make me a prisoner, I don't care, just please don't kill me!" He cried.

Varyn wouldn't have it. "Where was your mercy when you murdered Emrys? Where is the confidence you had when you challenged your aunt's claim to the Kalmar throne? You're pathetic, there's no saving you. And even if I did what then? What point would there be in keeping you alive?"

The man struggled to think of a answer as to why he should live, truly a low point to come across in one's life. "I… I-I could be a slave! I could work for you! Serve you for the rest of my days! My body may be frail in comparison to before but my mind is still active! Varyn you knew me long ago! You know that I benefited the realm under my rule until… then…"

Reikland nearly laughed aloud from his absurdity. "You jest, _fjun_? You, work for me? When you ordered the execution of my own prince and some of the highest nobles in the lands, all my friends? And then what? I would have no need for you; likewise no one would pay ransom. I would just be giving you the chance to escape and run off and possibly cause more problems. No, you'll pay for your actions right here and now. You die now."

Varyn looked back towards Valérie before he plunged his blade into the man's neck. "Not going to stop me this time now are you?"

"No please! I beg you please!" Jannik begged.

The brunette didn't meet his eyes, only shook her head and said, "Just do it quickly for his sake."

And with that, not needing anymore confirmation, Varyn pressed his blade forwards, driving it through the King's throat, and out the other end. Blood poured out instantly, seeping from the wound and covering his clothes as they soaked in the crimson liquid. He struggled for a brief moment, but was dead soon after, not lasting even five seconds.

Now, his problems seemingly solved, Varyn pulled his sword from the corpse as it fell to the floor, and glanced at his friends. "It's over now… I guess."

Allistor came to his side to clap him on the back. "Congrats Varyn, we finished it."

The Nordic man looked a little saddened. "Yeah… a bit anticlimactic though… what now?"

Almost in response the door to the room burst open and the head guard they had dealt with before appeared behind it. "Y-You!" He hissed, witnessing his king dead on the floor.

The three nations stepped back from the guard in shock.

"I checked with the guards at the main entrance, they said no one came in recently! You bastards! I should have known! There are twenty guards at the bottom of these stairs ready at to act at my command, give me one reason not to call for them right now!"

Brandishing his dagger, ready to use it, Varyn attempted to not result to more violence and death to solve this matter. "Easy now, you don't have to do that. If you do, you'll be dead long before they arrive, I will make that a certainty. But it doesn't have to be that way." He said, trying to reason with the man. "Think about it, you were apart of a already failing cause, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened, better now than later down the road. I promise, if you let us go now, every non-native supporter of Jannik will be pardoned, including you; you don't have to die for that pathetic man. And besides, the three of us are nations, you couldn't kill us even if you wanted to."

The guard stood silent for a moment in the doorway before grinning. "That'll just mean your ransoms will be immeasurable." He then rushed to close the door and called out to his men below him. " _Herrer! Kom her!_ "

Allistor however reached the door and kept it open, allowing for Varyn to throw his dagger, which twirled through the air, the heavy tip of the blade carrying it forward and sinking it into the guards chest; dead before he hit the floor.

They had another issue at hand though as numerous heavy footsteps where then heard as the other guards rushed up at the call of their now slain leader.

"Bar the door!" Valérie ordered, but Varyn gestured Allistor against it.

The brunette looked up at the Celt angrily. "What?! Why not?! They'll be here any second!"

"I know that, but look around you, there's no other way out of here, we'd just be delaying the inevitable. Let's just let them through one at a time through the door, we can cut them down easily enough that way."

Frustrated, but seeing his reasoning, Valérie nodded. And so the first guard charged his way into the room, only to be stabbed from behind as Allistor hid behind the door, out of sight.

"See, it'll be like fish in a barrel." Varyn mused.

And for the most part it was, at least for the first few soldiers, but soon enough the men realized their folly in charging one at a time as the bodies piled by the doorway. After the last man that was sent was slain, all was silent, behind the doorway there was no movement or sound for about two minutes.

Wary of what they would do, Varyn didn't know weather to back away from the door so as to not be harmed by any sudden outburst, or to draw closer to it so as to not allow any open space to be given to the soldiers.

Valérie then took it upon herself to act on her own accord and began to close the door. "I think now might be the time to close it."

Reikland nodded this time sheathing his sword, but as soon as the Burgundian approached the door, a crossbow bolt flew past her and found its target in Allistor's shoulder.

"AHHH FUCK!" He shouted in pain as the bolt bit threw all the light armour he was wearing and embedded itself into his shoulder.

"Close it now!" Varyn shouted, bringing the Scotsman to lay in the corner of the room. But as Valérie attempted to push it shut, four of the guards burst through, weapons out and ready.

Varyn released himself from Allistor's care and drew his sword again, parrying an overhead swing from his immediate attacker and dodging another from the man to his left. He then blocked a thrust towards his chest and in the same instance sliced the closest man's lower torso open, making him tumble to the floor in agony. The next man he took care of by a simple jab to the throat, and the third with a parry and a slicing off of the arm; a wonderful move if you were in need of disarmament. The now one less armed guard backed up in shock, leaving him open to be cut down trivially.

That only left the fourth guard, which he saw Valérie contesting with, but he couldn't worry about her at that moment as more guards poured into the room. One man raised his arm back for a great swing but left his defenses critically exposed which Varyn took advantage of with by rushing into him and stabbing him through the chest before his swing proved effective. Another guard tried to swing at him while he was pulling his sword out of the still standing body before him, and so Varyn swung the body to absorb the hit, truly confirming his death. He then wrenched his sword free and tossed the body on top of his attack, pinning him to the ground.

Varyn then took back a step back to dodge an axe swing which would have surely killed a normal human, the axe did slice open his pectoral, but he couldn't focus on that. The guard with the axe was trying to strike again so Varyn caught the weapon with the hilt of his sword and flung it out of his hands. The man then tried to punch him, but soon discovered that fists are not an agreeable alternative to sharpened steel as he cut off one of his hands and then hacked at his shoulder, toppling the man as he fell dead.

The Celt then glanced to see Allistor back on his feet and battling it out with a smaller figured guard, and Valérie just finishing off one man only to encounter another who was huge and much larger than her. Varyn rushed over to stab the distracted giant in the side, but the man smacked him away like an irritating mosquito, sending him to the floor, without his sword and his dagger which was still buried in the chest of the first head guard.

Another soldier saw him defenseless on the floor and attempted to swing his rather large sword at him, but Varyn rolled out of the way, though not quick enough as the blade cut a part of his side open. Varyn in response kicked the guard's feet out from underneath him, allowing him to climb on top of his fallen body and snap his neck. He then took the now dead guard's knife and rushed up to attack the brute of a man still engaged with Valérie.

Valérie's POV

Valérie struggled to keep her ground against the giant man before her, she was normally able to keep her own against a common foe, but this man's characteristic where not exactly… common. He must have been a full foot taller than herself, and she was already tall for a woman, so it was saying a lot, and his physique was that of a raging bull, a hairy raging bull she noted as his long blonde hair and beard swung as he attacked her. She managed to parry some of his lesser swings, but for the more powerful ones all she could to keep her head on her shoulders was dodge them, and hope he got tired.

After one narrow escape from his blade she saw Varyn plunge his sword deep into his abdomen, and her hopes soared, but only to be smothered as the giant smacked Varyn away from him like a bug, who in turn crashed to the ground, another guard ready to lunge at him. But she couldn't worry herself with Varyn at that moment, and stabbed the huge man in the ribs as he was trying to extract Varyn's sword. The man hollered in pain (though strangely he didn't just before) and turned his attention back to the brunette.

Valérie gulped hard, withdrew her blade, and attempted to throw herself onto the man to knock him off balance, but that didn't work as she thudded off of him as if he were a brick wall, only accomplishing to disorient herself. Then, in her daze, the brute tried an overhead swing at her face, but was stopped as Allistor's own sword took the blow, who then returned to his own fight with another guard.

Valérie internally thanked the Scotsman, but now still had to deal with the guard before her, and so thought of how she could maybe hamstring the man, or at least hack at anything below his waist. But before she needed to put any plan into action, Varyn came again and lunged at the man, driving a knife into his back and sliding it down. Though she couldn't see it, Valérie could imagine that it left a major wound that would cripple him. This time with the man truly distracted as he turned around to face Varyn, Valérie took her dagger and sliced open the exposed area of the back side of his knee, sending him finally crashing to the floor. Valérie then finished him off with a quick jab into his neck, killing him instantly.

Varyn grinned at her as the last of their enemies were seemingly defeated, Allistor was still engaged with one guard but he seemed to be wrapping the ordeal up, even with a crossbow bolt in his shoulder.

"Great teamwork Val! Killed that fuckin' monster!" The Nordic man cackled, and raised his hand for a high-five. But in the corner of her eye the Burgundian noticed a man underneath a body, and pushed it off of him. He then sprang up and rushed at Varyn who had his back turned to him, a sword poised at his torso.

Fear in her eyes, Valérie shoved the Celt out of the way and tried to catch the man's stroke with her own, but was a second too late and cried out in agony as she felt the longer than she anticipated knife plunge itself just below her ribs, and slide down a little to open the wound. She fell instantly to the floor, the blade still in her, and watched as Varyn turned to see what happened, and in a fury, cut off the head of the man who stabbed her in a fraction of a second.

Now with blood pouring out of her torso, Valérie's vision grew hazy and her hearing faint as she couldn't make out Varyn's face shouting above her very well. She could feel him roll her over, but the movement of that action sent flashes of pain throughout her body, and she cried out even louder. She felt a body crash down next to her, and recognized that it was the guard Allistor had been fighting, and internally sighed, realizing that all their enemies were now actually dead.

Her moment of relief passed in an instant however, as pain racked her body, and she tried to curl up in a ball to prevent herself from throwing up. This didn't help, though all that came out of her mouth was blood, which wasn't any better. Valérie then heard seemingly distant yelling above her and saw a fuzzy outline of someone, she couldn't tell which man it was, looking down at her. She then felt pairs of hands reaching for underneath her knees and her back, and soon enough came to the conclusion that she was being carried, though she did not know where, and never found out until much later, as she fell unconscious.

 _Two days later_

Valérie woke to the sound of a bird chirping outside her window, and for a moment thought she was back home in Dijon, but immediately remembered where she was when she felt the pain in her torso as she tried to sit up, the previous events flooding back into her mind.

Looking around the room she realized that it was unfamiliar to her, though she had to still be in Jolanishølm , right? She then noticed that her clothes had been changed, as she was in a clean white linen tunic now, and that the bed she was in was freshly made with rather nice smelling sheets covering her.

 _This must be some type of recovery room or something._ She thought.

Next Valérie reached to the bed stand beside her that held a water pitcher and a cup, but the action of that hurt her too much to try and so she laid still, frustratingly thirsty. It was at that moment she realized that she wasn't alone and saw a familiar man sitting in a chair while resting his head at the foot of her bed, turned away from her.

She retracted as much as she could away from the man from embarrassment, but then saw that he was asleep, his chest rising regularly as he breathed. She calmed down at this, and observed him more, taking note that he looked rather… peaceful when asleep, despite not being able to see his face. He was much less annoying and talkative this way, and for that, Valérie was grateful.

It then came to her attention that Varyn must have stayed by her side while she was unconscious, and embarrassment flushed through her again. This time though it felt almost… nice, and she reached forward to ruffle his messy hair a bit. This woke him up however, so she pretended to be trying to wake him instead. "Hey, get up." She said.

Varyn turned his head over, then his grey eyes opened to see her shaking him awake, and he smiled. "Well good…" He took a quick glance out the window, "afternoon to you lass, didn't think you'd be awake by now."

Valérie huffed and turned her face away from him. "I'm a tough girl, I've dealt with worse."

(No she hadn't)

Varyn's grin widened considerably. "Well whether or not that's true, the fact is you still took quite a nasty blow. And for me…" his expression then turned solemn, "thank you Val. Thank you so much. I'm sorry I didn't realize the man was behind me, it should have been me who got stabbed."

Still not facing him, she sighed. "It's not that big of a deal, I'm sure any of us would have done the same."

"Yes, but don't dismiss it like that, I'm sincerely grateful to you Valérie. And besides… this was my mission, neither of you had an obligation to go… and yet I'm the only one who didn't get hurt. Allistor took a crossbow bolt to the shoulder and you a knife to the stomach."

Finally looking at him again she noticed a heavy bandage around the upper part of the left side of his chest. "What about you?" She asked, gesturing to it.

Varyn looked down and touched the bandage. "Oh this? Nothing more than a … deep scratch, an axe got me there, but it's no big deal, unlike yours." He countered, pointing towards her torso.

It was then that Valérie finally lifted her tunic a bit, which revealed a slightly blood stained wrapping of gauze around her body that was held tightly in place. She touched it gingerly, and winced from the pain, but then looked up at the Celt suspiciously. "You didn't put this on yourself, did you?" She demanded, as the bandages were rather close to an area she would rather not be exposed to his sight.

The man held his hands up in his defense. "No, I swear I didn't, I had a handmaiden do that for you. Don't worry I'm going to touch you if you don't to be."

Satisfied, she tried to think of last night's events, or at least she assumed it was last night, she didn't think she slept that long. But anyways she couldn't remember anything past being lifted up from the ground, and so wanted a run down of what happened next. "So anyways…" she started, "what happened after I fell unconscious? All I remember is crashing to the floor, very painfully if I must say, and then being lifted up by someone… but that's all."

Varyn laced his fingers together as he thought of what to say. "Well, first off I took the cleanest piece of cloth I had and applied it to your wound, then with Allistor's guide we carried you down the steps of the tower we were in and managed to get the three of us outside the walls. We met our outside men there who provided further care, and then the next morning when the news spread, the fortress surrendered and defected to us, and so we brought you back to this room where I had a servant clean you up more thoroughly this time, you've been asleep for about two days since then, I haven't really left this room much since then and don't know what's happening outside much."

"And so you fell asleep with your head at the foot of my bed?" She asked in a teasing manner, though the way she said it didn't come across that way.

The dirty blonde looked rather flustered as he tried to excuse his action. "W-Well I wanted to see that you were okay and then… I guess I got really exhausted, I don't even remember falling asleep."

Valérie nodded briefly. "And uh, when you said that 'we' carried 'you', you were just being humble when it was just you right? I doubt Allistor could carry anything with that bolt in his shoulder."

Varyn once more became flustered, this time scratching the back of his neck. "Well, uh… yeah it was just me… But anyways," he continued, changing the subject, "you're looking good. B-Better, I should say, better." He stumbled over his words.

"What, is that supposed to mean I looked bad before?"

For some reason, his confidence seemed to return to him when she asked that, and his composure relaxed a bit. "I mean, I will admit that you looked absolutely and astonishingly ravishing with cuts, blood matted to your hair, and dirt and sweat on your face, but yes, you look better now."

Valérie couldn't help but grin, and failed to hide it from the man.

"Also, you should smile more, it looks good on you."

The Burgundian woman's smile faded though as soon as he said this. "Why are you doing this?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"Flattering me, being nice to me?"

Varyn was taken aback with her sudden change in mood. "I… I was just trying to compliment you."

"Is it necessary?"

"What? Can I not be kind to you?"

The brunette looked away. "I don't want a relationship."

"What? I wasn't trying to make any advances on you, I was just trying to be amicable at least, is that not allowed? And why not?"

Valérie didn't respond for some time. "Because love is annoying."

The dirty blonde was at a loss for words. "You… you think love is annoying?"

"Not only that but stupid and a waste of time too."

"What? Is this the same woman who confessed her love for a certain Englishman a couple years ago? The one trying to get freaky with my nephew?" He questioned, not sure if he was hearing her right.

The woman glared at him before responding. "I was never fully in love with him, I think I just wanted to be, and besides it was almost twenty years."

"Oh, it all seems to blend together in my mind, but nevertheless the fact still stands."

Valérie sighed, her hazel eyes glistening with the beginning of tears. "A few years ago I… witnessed Arthur and Joana kissing… even with the advances I made on him I guess I wasn't good enough." She sorrowfully laughed out the last words.

Varyn suddenly felt remorse for the brunette and reached out to take her hand. "Hey… remember what I said before? Arthur is a fool if he can't realize how great of a person you are; you don't need him, you need someone who's right for you and can value you for how much you're actually worth."

The woman stared embarrassingly at his hand holding hers. She then quickly released herself from his grasp and turned away. "Oh, so like you?" She asked irritably.

The Nordic man smirked. "Is that a joking suggestion, or a proposal? Because I'd be fine with either." He mused, his face drawing closer to hers to get under her skin.

She pushed his face away with her hand. "God you're annoying; why are you trying to flirt? We're nothing."

His smile widened. "Nothing can turn into something you know."

"Yeah, something stupid."

"Heh, I hope not." The man chuckled.

She laid back down in her bed, her back to him. "Well don't hold breath, because nothing is going to happen."

"Well it doesn't really matter if I hold my breath. We are invincible after all."

"Shut up." She groaned.

"Also if you're really wondering why I'm doing this now, it's to also distract you from the pain you're in. I bet you didn't even notice for these last few minutes."

Valérie's eyes widened.

 _He's right… my attention was so transfixed on him that I barely felt anything…_

Smiling once more, though he couldn't see it with her head turned away, the woman decided to ask another question.

"So why are you acting all caring to me now? In the past half year and when I first arrived it seemed like you were really annoyed with me at certain points."

Varyn scratched the back of his neck again. "Ah, yeah, sorry about that. I'll admit I was being a pain in the ass before. I guess that this war has taken a bit of a toll on me in more ways than I thought. Sorry if I was acting rude or anything."

Valérie sat up again, casually brushing her long hair behind her head. "You can say that again."

The man was thankful that she couldn't hear the internal screaming in his head as he witnessed one of the most attractive things he had ever seen the woman do before. Thankfully he managed to keep his mind and voice steady. "Well sorry for being a bit on edge when my entire kingdom had been plagued with death and destruction for fifteen years. Unlike you who only showed up in the last eight months." He said lightly, grinning the whole time.

The woman irritably huffed out an air of complaint. "That wasn't my fault, I told you I had stuff to deal with back home."

"I was kidding Val, you know I'm greatly appreciative of everything you've done, and besides you know you could try smiling for once."

"I'm not going to pretend to be happy like you."

"Hey I said nothing about being happy, you just ruin your appearance always scowling so often. All the times your excited and energetic makes you a lot more appealing."

Valérie was at a loss for words from what he just said, and began to blush, but was saved as Prince Grecoff unexpectedly opened the door to the room and came inside.

Varyn jumped from his chair to embrace the man whom he hadn't seen for a few weeks. "Grecoff! You're here! Oh it it's great to see you! I think you can already tell that the plan worked out?"

"Yes I think I can." The soon to be king replied. "I came over and soon as I heard the news. And I also heard it was all because of the three of you. And so I wanted to let you know that I'm proud of, and incredibly grateful to you all."

"The three of us? But there's only two of us here…?" Valérie trailed off until she saw Allistor snoring in a corner. "Oh."

"And so, as per your request Varyn, we'll be having a great feast along with my coronation back in Tråvlo next month to celebrate our victory over the Kalmar Union and all its influence." The prince continued.

Varyn stood still for a moment thinking something over. "So does that mean…?"

"Yes. Duke Angær's defection to us was made public to everyone in the kingdom besides Jannik three days ago, and now with his added death the entire cause collapsed overnight. We've won Varyn, it's finally over! The only thing that's left is a few stranded mercenary companies dotting the countryside, but they'll be taken care of easily enough and sent home… or imprisoned if they refuse."

The news of his victory seemed to have an impound effect on the Celt as he sank back to his chair in shock. "We've finally won… I can't believe it… I-I was scared that there might be some stupid people still left to rise against us but… it's truly over…"

As Varyn seemed to recover, Valérie decided to ask the Prince her own question.

"So 'King' Grecoff, any plans for the future here on out?"

"Yes actually, a few. My first decree will be to legally punish but not execute every _ældormund_ who joined with or supported Jannik, as we all saw how killing nobles and people of high ranks worked out for him. Next I'll establish an official Royal Navy to protect the kingdom and its borders. The old system of relying solely upon the _ældormund_ as our only source of ships is ineffective, it's time for it to be revamped. I also plan to commission the construction of fortresses along key strategic coastal areas around the kingdom for its defense and as a form of communication, we can't have this kind of event happen again."

Valérie was impressed, but skeptical. "Sounds like that will cost a pretty penny. How will you afford it all?"

Grecoff smiled meekly. "Well, it will take a while to implement everything, and even some of what I said I'll probably have to leave to my successor to hopefully complete. But besides that I have some connections with the Hanseatic League that will allow me to take out some loans, that will help restart the Kingdom's treasury after the shambles Jannik left it in."

"But the only reason I'm even able to consider these things as a real part of my future is because of your guy's actions, and for that I'm entirely indebted to you all." He continued, bowing to themdespite his soon to be title of King.

"Though I heard you in particular Valérie paid the price for it all, I'm sorry to hear about your injuries, though I'm also thankful that you went to such lengths for this mission. Thank you Valérie."

Valérie wasn't really used to being complimented as much as she was now and didn't know how to react. So she just chose to be humble. "Ah, it was no big deal really, it'll completely heal in a few days anyways, not like I was literally laying down my life or anything."

"Either way, thanks are in order, and I'm sure you'd prefer a peaceful recovery, so I hope you don't mind if I steal Varyn from you, there are matters I wish to discuss with him now that our political situation has changed completely." He said, and laid a hand on the Celt's shoulder, indicating that it was time to leave the woman be.

"Oh, uh, no problem, see you later Varyn." She said.

Varyn in turn stood up again and waved her goodbye, "See you Val, come on Al, time to go." and grabbed Allistor's collar to drag him out of the room.

The Scotsman was startled as he was suddenly awakened to being dragged, but relaxed as he noticed the situation and waved at Valérie. "See ya' lass." and then was out the door.

Now with all three men gone, the Burgundian was left with a lot of things to think about, along with a lot of pain… and still no water within reach.

Translations:

Danish:

 _Standsning_ : 'Stop' or 'halt'

 _Hvem er du? Hvad laver du?_ : 'Who are you? What are you doing?'

 _Vi er fra Jarlxö. Vi blev sendt af Hertug Angær… Jeg har et brev til … 'ham'_.: 'We are from Jarlxö.(the main Reikish settlement on the island of Fiëlskaar, which was still loyal to Jannik) We were sent by Duke Angær (a Duke loyal to Jannik)... I was sent with a letter for… 'him'.'

 _Herrer! Kom her!_ : 'Men! Come here!'

Reikish:

 _Fjun?_ : 'correct?' or 'right?' (Used in question)

 _Ældormund_ : 'Elder-man' (all members of Reikish nobility below the ruling monarch(s) or governing body)


	33. Chapter 33

Author's note: Varyn has additional scars on his throat and the area where his heart is from the Battle of Dorsten (a fictional battle during the Napoleonic Wars)

Chapter 33

-A visit from 'friends'?-

February, 2016

"I can't believe you just watched and took a video of me you stupid git."

"How could I resist _mon ami_? It was such a wonderful moment of your pitiful state that I just couldn't pass it up!"

England shoved the stupid frog annoyingly as he stood on Varyn and Julia's doorstep soaked and freezing. He knocked on the door aggressively, desperately needing a hot shower or bath to warm him up. After about two minutes and as many additional knocks with no reply, Arthur looked to Francis for an answer.

"Don't look at me, we told them we were coming, I have no better guess than you do."

Hesitantly, the Englishman took the doorknob in his hands and tested to see if it was unlocked, and was surprised to see that it opened with ease.

"The hell…?" He trailed off, opening it further and entering the house; they did know they were coming after all.

As the two entered, they were greeted by only Värjö, the beast coming up to them, tail wagging and tongue out, panting from the excitement of their distantly familiar scents.

"Värjö… I swear you're the shitiest guard dog in the world…" England muttered, patting the wolf's head.

"Varyn! Julia! Where are you guys?!" France called out. "You don't think they're away do you?"

"I don't think so… their cars are still here, unless they left without them."

The two decided to search around the first floor, calling out for the couple, until Francis stopped Arthur with a hand.

"What is it?" He asked.

France held a finger to his lips for silence, and pointed upstairs. After a moment passed without hearing anything, England looked irritated. "What? I don't hear anything."

"I did, I'm sure of it follow me." The Frenchman said, and started for the staircase.

"You think it's them?"

"Probably, I think I can hear two people talking, who else would it be?"

"Just asking you git."

As the two of them reached the top of the stairs, the sound of voices was indistinguishable coming from the right hallway, specifically a door that was slightly ajar.

 _"Aaaahhh, oh man that's wonderful."_

The two looked at each other, eyebrows raised. They could tell that was Varyn, but what was happening in there? They crept closer to find out.

 _"Told you, you should listen to me more."_

 _"Y-Yeah… I shou- AHH! Damn why haven't we done this before?!"_

England exchanged a horrified look with the Frenchman, who only grinned in return. _"Let's listen in more."_ He whispered.

 _"Ooo, you really like this don't you Var?"_

 _"Aah… aaahhh… yeah that feels great…"_

 _"Want me to move around more?"_

 _"Uh, yea- AH! Wo! That hurt a bit but felt awesome! Do that again!"_

The two had their ears directly by the opening the door left by now.

 _"I didn't think you'd get so worked up from this."_

 _"It's only because you're so good at it Jules."_

 _"Awwww, thanks. You know I thought I'd always make a good masseuse."_

 _Wait, what?_ Was the collective thought that ran through both of their heads. England and France then opened the door to see Julia walking on Varyn's bare back.

"Oh goddamnit! I wanted to sneak up on you guys doing the dirty!" Francis shouted.

"Oh my god guys! How long were you there?!" The Prussian asked, stepping off of the man which earned her a painful grunt from him.

"Uh, we just got here, the door was unlocked and no one answered so we came in, then we heard… things so we got curious." England answered, ashamed about their actions.

"We didn't expect you two to come so soon, sorry, we just got a little… concentrated on this so I guess we didn't hear you." Julia said.

"We could tell." France said briefly, his arms crossed in frustration of not finding the two in the act. "But nice beard by the way Varyn."

At that moment Värjö came into the room, walking past the two Western Europeans and nudging his master before sitting down. "Dammit Värjö! Would you have just let anyone in?"

The wolf responded by licking his face.

Varyn chuckled and approached Arthur to shake his hand. "I swear you've become useless these days. But anyways it's good to see you too, though I'll admit I was a little surprised when you said you wanted to come however."

"Why?" England asked.

"Well, first my accident was more than half a year ago, and second our countries have never been on that great of terms in the past, we fought each other in both World Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, The American Revolution, and almost every major conflict from the 1300's to now. If I'm not mistaken the only time any of us were ever on good terms was the Thirty Years War, and that's it."

"That may be true, but we've been trying to amend the wrongs of the history. I don't know if you've been re-appointed to your national responsibilities yet, but you'd see the extents our people are going to to ameliorate relations between us." The Brit replied, an air of wisdom in his voice.

"It's true, the European Union has made great leaps to unify our peoples under common goals… at least most of us…" Francis said, eyeing Arthur with dissatisfaction. But he then walked up to the Reikish man to shake his hand, patting his shoulder in the same instance. "But besides that, it's good to see you well Varyn."

Varyn smiled in turn as the Frenchman greeted him. In that same moment however, as he gripped the Celt's hand and shoulder, Varyn had a flash of an image all around him. For a split second he was transported to a battlefield, dark grey clouds all around him and the smell of smoke and gunpowder in the air. Before him stood Francis himself, looking down at him with cold, menacing eyes that pierced his skull with a look of disgust and hatred. There was fresh blood on his uniform along with the cavalier sword in his hand. As Varyn gazed up at him defenselessly, a sharp and intense pain sprang in his throat and heart, feelings of an agonizing burning sensation arose and he felt like he couldn't breath. Then, as soon as the image appeared, it was gone, and Varyn was back standing in his own home, Francis looking at him and still shaking his hand, but the pain remained. Reikland immediately let go and backed up, gasping for air as he laid his hands over the afflicted areas, only to notice they were fine… at least on the outside. The burning feeling was still there, lessening, but still there.

Francis and the other two looked at him concernedly as he did this, worried as to what happened. "Varyn?" He asked, "What's wrong?"

Realizing how strange he must have seemed just then, he ignored it, playing it off as a peculiar and random quirk. "Uh, nothing, sorry I just felt a random pain, it uh… happens sometimes." Varyn responded.

Not entirely convinced, the three eyed each other anxiously, but decided to go along with what the Nordic man had said. "Well, if you're okay then I guess it's nothing to worry about."

Varyn nodded. "Totally. Oh and… why are you soaking wet Arthur?"

The Englishman stiffened as he remembered just how freezing he actually was. "Uh… while we were walking to your house I kind of… slipped on some ice and fell in the stream by the driveway; I broke through the ice and fell in. I would have been a little bit better if this fuckin' wank stain actually helped me out instead of just laughing at me and taking a video." He grumbled, jabbing a thumb at Francis.

The three other nations failed to stifle their laughter at his misfortunes, but soon enough hurried him into the shower to warm up while they prepared some food.

 _Some time later_

Arthur walked out of the bathroom and came downstairs fully dressed with some clothes provided to him, and a towel which he was patting his damp hair with.

Lured by the sent of eggs, cooked meat, coffee, and toast, he stepped into the kitchen to see the three just completing a large meal of breakfast foods. "Whoa, smells and looks great."

"Something you must not be accustomed to." Julia teased.

"Fuck off."

"I see you're not denying the truth." Francis joined in, a wide smirk on his face.

"Forget them," Varyn mediated, "how was your shower Arthur?"

"It was very refreshing, thank you for letting me take one… but Varyn, I know that Julia lives with you and all, but all the shampoo and body wash and what-not were only women's products. Is that what you use?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Really? I mean I don't care, but it's a little weird."

France raised an eyebrow at the Brit. "You know, I also use women's product for my hair."

"Well that's understandable for you, but Varyn…"

"Hey, women's product is what keeps all of our hair gorgeous! If you have a problem with that, speak up now." Julia insisted.

France flocked his hair back gracefully. "Too true _mon ami_. Sadly, Men's shampoo just doesn't do our luscious locks justice."

Britain went back into the bathroom to finish drying off, but not without a subtle "Weirdo's." being muttered before he climbed back up the stairs.

Julia put her hands on her hips in a disapproving manner. "Some people…"

The three then made to set out the food they cooked on the dining room table, waiting for Arthur to come back down, but ten minutes later they were growing rather impatient. "Where the hell is he?" Francis wondered.

Varyn rose from his seat and made for the stairs. "I'll go check to see what's up."

Julia looked at him anxiously, probably concerned about being left alone with one of her worst enemies in history, but he thought they could use the time to ease the tension between them, even if just a little.

Now upstairs, Varyn approached the bathroom which he saw light peering out of and the Brit's voice coming from. Creeping closer he heard what sounded like Arthur having a conversation with someone…

 _"Flying Mint Bunny?! What are you doing here? And Unicorn too?! I'm pleasantly surprised but I told you guys not to follow me here!"_

 _What the fuck…?_

Varyn decided to keep listening in.

 _"Are you guys here to tell me something? Usually you appear when something important is happening or about to happen."_ There was a short pause in his speech. _"Oh, what's that?"_

Another period of silence pursued, as whatever… thing he was talking to seemed to be saying something to the Brit.

 _"Oh my… uh, well I'll try to keep an eye out for them… rather unsettling if I must say so… thank you guys for this, but you must leave now, the longer you guys stay the more my friends will get suspicious… yes I love you too Flying Mint Bunny but you have to go. Yes I'll keep it a secret, now goodbye."_

Having a feeling that he wasn't supposed to hear this, Varyn quickly rushed back downstairs to Francis and Julia, who looking at him questioningly.

"So, what's up?"

"He's coming in a second." The Celt briefly said, sitting back down next to France. Almost on que, Arthur appeared a moment later, searing himself at the table.

"What took you so long?" The Prussian asked somewhat irritably.

"Sorry, just… took longer for my hair to dry than I thought." He said, trying to think of an excuse.

Varyn changed the subject to save the Brit from having to explain further. "Anyways, I'm sure if you two haven't eaten yet today you'll be hungry, so let's dig in."

"Oh, I forgot to ask earlier, Varyn do you guys have olives?" France asked.

"Yeah, just a sec, I'll get them." Walking to the kitchen, he got a jar from the fridge filled with the green little fruits and returned to the table.

Struggling to pop the lid open though, he casually turned to his lover. "Hey Julia can you open this for me?"

"Sure, there you go." She said, opening it with ease.

England noticed this exchange with confusion. "Varyn… is Julia stronger than you?"

Julia smirked while flexing her arm. "Almost, but nah he just really sucks at opening jars."

"Oh, how… petty."

"Hey it's not my fault! We didn't have these things with sealed lids when I was growing up!" Varyn yelled in his defense as he set the olives down on the table.

"None of us did!" Arthur retorted.

"Well I adapt to things slower than most!"

France hid his amusement well, but when Varyn sat back down he leaned closer to him to whisper in his ear. _"Seriously?"_

A glare from the man quickly shut him up, but a mere few moments later he was nudging the Celt once more. "Hey Varyn."

"What is it Francis?" He asked through gritted was teeth.

"Look at England."

The dirty blonde turned his gaze to the Brit, who was currently biting into a sausage. He then brought his attention back to his own meal, trying to ignore the Frenchman. "And?"

"One of his eyebrows is thicker than the other." He whispered.

Varyn glanced up to look again, gave a short nose exhalation, and then quickly shoved food into his mouth to help hide his emerging grin; attempting to focus on chewing instead.

"See? It's funny!"

"Shut up." The Celt said, trying and failing to contain his laughter.

"Do you think he shaves or plucks them, and then forgot one side?"

"Francis I swear to God, please shut up."

"You two know I can hear you right?"

Varyn looked surprised, but Francis just continued to grin. "That was my intention."

"Well screw you, I was wondering if I could shave them just a little, but my electric razor died right after I finished the first, and I didn't have a spare blade or anything before we left for this trip."

"There's no need to worry about your eyebrows Artie, mine are pretty thick too you know." Varyn said comfortingly.

Julia looked at both of them, carefully observing their upper faces. "Yeah but yours are like… _thicc_ , while Arthur's are just thick."

"Why the hell did I even come here?" England mumbled, shoveling some eggs into his mouth.

"I could ask you the same. Why did you guys come here? Was it just to check on Varyn?" Julia asked.

"Pretty much. Wanted to see how this old FILF right here was holding up." Francis replied.

"Did you just call me _filth_?" Varyn demanded.

The Frenchman looked embarrassed, an expression not commonly worn upon his face. "No, it means 'father I'd like to…' you know what nevermind."

"Pervert." Varyn muttered, taking a sip of his drink.

"Hey, I don't want to hear that for you, Varyn you're probably the most sexually active person to ever roam the earth." Francis retorted.

The Celt sighed. "Yeah, if I can recall correctly, going basically half of my life being celibate definitely qualifies me as being the most sexually active person in history."

"What? Half your life?" Julia questioned, curiously poking into her lover's sexual life.

"I didn't the first half of my life being celibate if that's what you're wondering, there were just a lot of very long periods of time that I was without… you know." He clarified.

"Still, you've probably done the dirty more than anyone in history." Francis joked, clapping the man on the back and leaving his hand there for a second.

Once more at the sensation of the Frenchman's contact, Varyn felt a pain course throughout his body. It wasn't as bad as before, but still very noticeable. He then shivered and felt an immense fear come over him, an almost tangible and gripping terror upon his heart and throat as he began to hack and cough, almost expecting blood to come out.

Suddenly pallid and now painfully coughing, the three others looked at the dirty blonde in confusion. "You okay?" England asked.

Again not wanting them to be concerned, he played it off casually. "Yeah, sorry I-I had some food go down the wrong the way." He then laughed to further ease their worry. "But yeah you're probably right Francis."

The three nations once more looked at each other, worry written over all their faces.

The rest of their meal was more solemn, an unspoken elephant in the room apparent to them all except the man it most affected.

Hours later, seeing the two guests off, Varyn retired to bed early that evening, exhausted and seemingly drained from the day's events. Not even Julia could raise his spirits that night.


	34. Chapter 34

_Prologue_

With the outbreak of the Fourth Coalition in Late 1806, an offensive led by Prussia to curb Napoléon's exponentially growing power after the defeat of Austria in 1805, The Kingdoms of Prussia, Reikland, Russia, Sweden, and The United Kingdom all briefly joining together yet again to fight, but in vain.

The recent humiliating defeats of the Prussian and Russian armies in the later part of 1806 mostly confirmed the French's victory, but a planned invasion of the main Reikish army landing in East Frisia, and along with some Dutch resistance forces from the recently French puppeted Kingdom of Holland, put to risk Napoleon's supply lines into eastern Germany and Poland, where he was at the year's end. They advanced rapidly from the coast and headed towards the Rhine, hoping to cut off transportation along the river, but a French insider amongst their forces leaked information to their enemies, and doomed them before the impending battle even began.

Only a few days into the new year, a French reinforcement army, made up of mostly veterans from the previous wars of revolution and coalitions, took the Reikish-Dutch forces by surprise, half encircling them overnight near the town of Dorsten in North-Rhine Westphalia. The force was primarily made of infantry, but included a very large amount of heavy artillery regiments, intended to be sent to Napoléon's frontlines, but they decided to test their firepower first upon the enemy who they now mostly surrounded. The vastly larger Reikish-Dutch forces, numbered at around 88,000 (in comparison to the 32,000 French), thus awoke to a hellish nightmare on the dawn of January 3rd, 1807.

At the break of dawn on the freezing morning, Reikish and Dutch soldiers awoke to the sound of cannon fire, screams, and utter chaos as nearly 90,000 artillery shells were unleashed upon their camp over the course of 3 hours. Confusion, bloodshed, and the smell of gunpowder and smoke reigned supreme that day as over 64,000 Reikish and Dutch men were either killed or captured, and with only about 6,000 French casualties. The Reikish attempted a desperate charge at the French surrounding them during the fighting, lead by the Reikish King, Elryk alf Vellarinn, but they were trivaly cut down by the French's canister shot, obliterating the men in charge.

By the end of the disastrous battle, King Elryk only narrowly managed to retreat with his remaining forces, essentially ending Reikland's contribution to the Fourth Coalition. The Battle of Dorsten, or also called: 'The Massacre of Dorsten', would serve to further the hatred towards King Elyrk by the Reikish people, as his previous fool-hearted actions along with the view of his general incompetence and now this horribly devastating battle set into motion the overthrowing of his rule in the Reikish coup d'etat of 1808.

Chapter 34

-The Battle of Dorsten-

January 3rd, 1807

Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia,

Confederation of the Rhine,

Modern Day Germany

Varyn staggered to the ground in submission, his body exhausted, bloodied, and beaten. The rancid smell of corpses, blood, and smoke hung heavy in the air in the aftermath of the massacre; tens of thousands of bodies laid all around him, dead or dying, and most of them his own men.

He tried to think of what had gone wrong… it all happened so fast that he didn't even know if they had fought for a couple hours, or if it was the next day already. The lack of sunlight didn't help, as ominous rain clouds reigned over them for the past week or so.

His mind was then suddenly brought back to the event at hand as a Francis walked up to him, his uniform dirty, torn, and bloodstained, much like his own.

He couldn't tell whether the blank and void expression plastered upon his face, or the bloodied saber at his side was more frightening.

They had just fought each other one on one, with blades and not rifles, something they were both more adapt at and accustomed to. Varyn had been confident in his abilities with the sword, but the demoralizing effect of the sudden amount of Reikish death around him overcame his adrenaline and anger, dooming him before he began. Francis had easily cut him down, and now approached his victim, his cold blue eyes vigilant, watching for any movement his enemy might make.

But Varyn remained still. He would try nothing more. He was beaten, defeated soundly and he accepted that. He let his head hang low, so much that he only saw the boots of the Frenchman barely two feet in front of him.

"Look at me."

He didn't.

"Varyn. Look at me." He commanded.

His head didn't move. At least not until he felt the Frenchman's cold blade against his throat, lifting his face to meet his eyes.

"You've caused me much trouble Varyn. Skirting all around Europe, trying to disrupt my plans. If only I could put you in one place and know you wouldn't leave there." He then turned to a company of French lancers some distance away and ordered them to come towards him. "Though maybe I can do just that."

When the cavalrymen came close enough he took a lance from the nearest man and walked behind Varyn.

"Hold still." He commanded and pierced him through the heart with the long spear.

Blood immediately spurted out from the wound and his mouth, and Varyn cried out in agony. The pain was beyond excruciating, and the dirty blonde screamed violently as one of his most vital organs was pierced by the metal blade of the lance and destroyed. Francis ignored this and continued to drive the wooden pole through his torso, eventually so far that the tip reached the ground. He then went even further, digging it into the dirt, and staking Varyn there; impaled through his heart and stuck.

"Now stay." He ordered Varyn, as if he was a dog.

He then started off to leave the Celt there to bleed out slowly but not die, but Varyn tried to save face and have the last word.

"Y-You know… Julia was right about you…" He whispered, his voice hoarse and rough from the horrible pain he was in.

Francis stopped mid stride and pivoted to look back at him. "What was that?"

"You're d-disgusting…" Varyn managed to cough out, slowly losing consciousness and bleeding heavily.

Francis approached him once more, standing over him and staring him down without a trace of remorse or sympathy in his face. "And why is that?" He asked.

Varyn's eyes fluttered as he could feel his head pounding and spinning at an agonizing rate. "You're a murderer… executing V-Valérie and then essentially killing Ludwig… you're a cruel monster with no regard for other nations… you only live for yourself… _je svaader svettyn!_ " He shouted at the end, spitting out blood onto the Frenchman's already dirty and stained uniform.

He then looked up at Francis and laughed, mustering enough strength to continue his speech. "A-And this is the b-best you can do?! I've fared far worse, my face sliced open, my ribs ripped off from my spine and my lungs strewn outside of my body, my jaw cut open and broken by my own lover, my hand cut off twice, poisoning… think this is anything?!" He asked. "No, just another part of the collection… you're nothing Francis… you're empire here on earth will crumble to nothing before your very eyes… you can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for too long… I'll see to that."

Francis however only continued to look down on him with cold, menacing eyes. "Your speech seems to be delirious Varyn, I can fix that."

And so he took another lance from the horsemen and drove it through the Celt's throat, ramming it into the ground and staking it there along with the first.

The sounds that then emerged from Varyn can only be described as unnatural and horrific as his speech dissolved into a horrid spurting, gurgling and choking scream; the only sound he could emit with a three meter long wooden pole piercing through his jugular. The cavalrymen besides Francis winced as they witnessed this terrible scene, knowing who he was and that he wouldn't die from this, but instead suffer an unimaginable amount of pain and agony. France himself though didn't wince, grimace, or turn away like his soldiers. He only watched in cold silence as his enemy struggled, shook, and choked on his own blood before him, slowly losing consciousness.

Varyn tried with wide eyes to dislodge the pole that was protruding through his heart, gripping the shaft of the lance but with little success, his energy seemingly evaporated with blood pouring out of his wounds. He couldn't breath, and his blood wasn't able to pump through his veins, soon enough the screaming pain throughout his body gave way to a cold numbness, and his eyes started to feel immensely heavy.

His limbs then all fell limp, and without his legs to support him, his weight fell completely onto the lances, driving them further into him. This made Varyn sputter out one last choking grunt of pain before his eyes finally closed and only a constant trickle of blood emerged from his lips.

France, with his enemy now truly defeated, finally turned away, and for good this time. He ordered for his men to follow him, and so left the Celt staked to the ground, a gruesome warning of the fate of those who dared to impede upon his ambitions.

 _Some time later_

It was hours before Tim found his 'father'.

He had been wandering through the battlefield, searching for Varyn and any survivors for a while now. He himself had been wounded, a bullet to the chest, and had passed out because of it. Now that he has missed the retreat of his forces together with Varyn's, he sought to find his father figure, as he had not been seen amongst the routed forces.

When he finally found him however, he threw up and nearly passed out again. He thought at first he might be dead, and stumbled his way to the body, which looked like it was from the bloody aftermath of a medieval battle, not one from an age where everyone and their dog was 'enlightened' and civilized.

Impaled twice, blood soaked, not breathing, and pale skin: Varyn truly appeared dead. Tim's fears rose as he touched his father figure's skin, it was lifeless and cold to the touch. He had probably laid there for hours, his glossed over eyes open but seeing nothing.

Tim began to hyperventilate; he had lost one of his parents before, and didn't think he was ready to have it happen again. Varyn had been his mentor, one of his few friends, one of the only people he could turn to and that truly understood him….

But he was Varyn… Varyn couldn't die, he was always there, even since ancient times he was always there…. he couldn't end like this, his nation, while not being the most stable at the moment, wasn't threatened to be completely dissolved like his mother's once was… he had to still to be alive… even despite how much he looked like a corpse.

So Tim broke off the ends of the lances and pulled Varyn from his impalement, blood flowing from the freshly opened wounds. The effort it took to dislodge him though was too much at one point, and the body slipped from his grip, causing him to fall back down the lance poles, ripping apart his flesh even more. Tim then coughed up blood from his own wound as he strained his body, and then silently asked his father for forgiveness.

 _Hopefully he couldn't feel that._

Now with one final push, he freed Varyn from the lances, the body falling on top of him as his legs gave out from his weight. A minute later he had gathered enough energy to lift himself up and stand up. Then carrying his father on his shoulders, he looked for a horse to ride on, away from the carnage of the battle they had experienced that day.

"Don't worry Varyn, this isn't the end for you… or any of us." He whispered to the Nordic man, though it was more to himself than anything.

Translations:

' _Je svaader svettyn'_ : Reikish for: 'you dirty bastard', but has more potency as an insult


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

-My Big Fat Greco-Roman Wedding-

June, 152 A.D.

Rome

The inside of the palace was insanely crowded, bustling with humans and nations alike from around the world.

Clustered around the couple of the evening was a group of nations who had never all been together in one group before. Excited gossip and chattering going on amongst them all, never being able to relate to so many people at once.

Varyn had never been around so many nations before, and it made him slightly uneasy, he was the youngest of them after all. He hoped his slight anti-socialism didn't affect his time for the rest of the night.

So far he had seen a number of nations he saw quite often like Aestii, Gaul, Iberia, and Germania, but now he was with another group, most of whom he hadn't seen for nearly eighty or seventy years.

"Whoa Varyn you're tall now! And your hair is so much longer, and braided too! What, are you thinking you're a woman?" Persia asked, tousling the Celt's messy hair.

"No, I only let one have her way with my hair."

"Ah, talking about Astrid? There's word 'round here that it'll be your two's wedding we'll all be going to next!" The tan eastern man teased, elbowing his side.

"Yeah make sure to invite us all when you get hitched!" Anatolia joined in.

"Oh yeah, how did you two meet? I heard there was a story behind it." The wild haired and blonde Illyria asked.

"Uh yeah… it was quite… unique to say the least." Varyn mumbled.

"What's that? I can't hear you!" Illyria smirked. "Hey guys quiet down! Askrolita's going to tell a story!"

A knot grew in the Celt's stomach as a family ew more nations and regular humans gathered around him, always wanting a story to hear.

"Well uh…" he started nervously before beginning, "we actually met when we were both little in a forest in my lands… you see Britannia and her were hanging out together camping, but she hadn't told Astrid about me yet, nor I her; apparently she was going to introduce us the next day. But anyways that night I happened across Gwyneth while she was sleeping and I wanted to scare her by waking her up; what I didn't know was that Astrid had gone away from the camp to get some water by a nearby stream and was only just now returning." Varyn paused to add a little suspense.

"And? Go on!" Illyria urged.

"Well basically Astrid saw me, a stranger, creeping up on her best friend and went into a freaking frenzy. She dove onto me from out of nowhere, hurling both of us over the edge of a small hill I had just come from until we both hit the bottom, probably with some broken ribs for each of us. Then she took a knife she had on her and stabbed me a couple times, but when she realized couldn't kill me she stopped… or at least slowed down her stabbing. Gwyneth then woke up and broke us apart and formally introduced us. I actually then thought she was a guy for a little bit because her hair was short and she was a bit of a tomboy back then."

Varyn then rubbed his jaw for a second. "I remember when she punched me in the face when she found out that I thought that."

"Damn, are you really okay with a brutish girl like that Varyn?" Illyria asked, brushing his arm gently.

Suddenly a figure was pushing itself through the small crowd that had formed, and Astrid appeared in the middle. "Who you calling a brute?"

Illyria looked at her with an almost playfully disgusted look. "You! How could you attack him like that?!"

"Hey I was just looking out for my friend who I thought was in danger!"

"It's not like you had to try and kill him though! He was no more than a child at that point, correct?"

Varyn was starting to get a little embarrassed from the scene developing before him. "Uh Illyria it's okay, it happened over two hundred,l years ago, you don't really need to defend me…"

At that point Romulus had shoved himself between the two women, separating them. "Girls calm down, don't act like kids. You're not going to ruin my special day now are you?" He asked, winking.

Astrid rolled her eyes while Illyria nodded vigorously. "Certainly! Sorry Romulus, and congratulations again! Helena is a lucky woman!"

"Hey Illyria, isn't it time to stop fawning over him? He's literally married now, and not to you!" Called a voice from the group around them.

Illyria's expression switched to fury in an instant as her glare passed over the crowd. "Shut up! Who said that?!"

With the wild blonde and most others distracted, Astrid took the chance to take Varyn's hand and drag him away from the commotion of the crowd.

When they had distanced themselves enough she stopped them both. "Sorry for almost causing a scene. But anyways can you believe this ridiculous garb we have to wear? It's like they're ready to strip at a moment's notice with how loose everything is!"

"Well considering how many Roman parties turn out I think that's very much so the case." Varyn pointed out.

"True. Hey I'm going to get some wine, want any?"

"Sure, I think I've gotten used to it now. Plus I want to have fun tonight."

"My my. Well aren't you finally growing up ya' little alcoholic." She remarked, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Whatever." He muttered as she walked off.

 _God I hope she doesn't get too drunk._

 _Time skip_

"So Romulus, how did you propose anyways? There's no way this was an arranged marriage right?" Britannia asked the Roman man as a group of nations all sat around together on couches.

"No, not at all. I proposed… kind of…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you see the two of us were just kind of hanging out together in Athens a few decades ago when I bought some apples from a vendor because I had a sudden craving for them. Then as a joke I called out to her from behind and threw one at her, which she caught. She then had the most bewildered expression come onto her face as she turned her head from the apple now in her hand to me, then to the apple, then back to me."

He sighed as he continued. "She then screeched on the top of her lungs: 'TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH YOU IDIOT!!!!' And then lunged and jumped into my arms to kiss me. Turns out I had completely forgotten that throwing an apple to a woman in Greece is a old traditional form of marriage proposal, and that catching it was the woman accepting. So I kind of didn't mean to propose, at least not at that exact moment, but Helena didn't let me back away from it, so here we are…"

"Hey," Helena grumbled, lightly hitting the Roman's arm. "You're making me sound like I was desperate."

"Weren't you?"

The Greek woman averted her eyes a little from her now husband. "Well a little… but only because you were taking so long to do it, had to make me wait for fucking decades upon decades!"

"Damn, that's sounds exactly like something you would do Romulus." Egypt said.

"Seriously with something as important and significant as the first marriage between two nations you'd think he'd just try to rush into it to claim it." Helena complained.

"I know… Here's a tip Asktoltia; don't make her wait too long." Romulus said, gesturing to the now tipsy Scandinavian who was practically laying on top of him.

"Oh what's this? Going to propose to me?" Astrid asked, sounding only slightly intrigued but smirking all the same.

"Not happening." Varyn said succinctly with a short shake of his head.

"Ugh. Figures. Well if I can't expect anything from you could you at least comfort me with some more wine?" She asked, shaking her empty cup in front of him.

Gaul chuckled. "I'm sure the last thing you'll be needing tonight is more wine."

" _She gets a bit clingy and emotional when drunk._ " Gwyneth half whispered to the group.

"Hey that's only partly true! I'm only clingy to those I love." Astrid said, slapping Varyn's leg lightly.

"Alright, no more wine for you." Varyn said immediately, trying to not be left with a wasted woman who he'd have to drag around everywhere.

The Scandinavian looked up at the Celtic man's face and glared. "I'll scream." She threatened.

And with that Varyn promptly left his seat to go fetch some wine for his dearest Astrid; reassuring her that he would be just a moment.

He made his way to the main room where most of the gusts where to find some wine when he saw a certain blonde woman nearby. He thought Illyria would have gotten over her obsession of the Romulus considering how events had turned out (or at least tried to suppress it), but a drunken stupor seemed to bring out her true feelings.

"Goddamniiiiittttttt!" She muttered to seemingly no one while in the dining lounge as she spilled a cup of wine all over herself when a wedding guest bumped into her. "This whole night is horrible! First I watch the man for me get married off to that stupid whore, then I get scolded by him, and now I ruin my nice dress that he had picked out for me!"

Varyn watched as she began to cry and looked around for the nearest person to comfort and take pity on her. She saw Germania pass by, and immediately walked up to him, latching onto his arm. "Berwaaaalllllddddd! I'm pretty right? Like more than Helena?"

He barely even looked as her as he peeled her off of him. "I don't care about you or your appearance enough to answer that."

"So cold! The least you could do is be a little concerned!" She shouted as he hurried off.

She then (if Varyn had to say) overdramatically sobbed into her sleeve until she spotted the grey eyed man nearby and grinned.

"Hehe… you know I think I should be going…" he mumbled, backing away from the drunken blonde.

"Varyn noooo… please don't leave me alone! I need some charming young man to sweep me off my feet tonight and there's far too few of you!"

"Uh, I don't know if I can exactly help you in that aspect."

"You're not trying to deny me are you?! I thought you liked older women?!"

He then grew very serious. "You told you that?"

"Romulus, why?"

"Fucking bastard." Varyn grumbled.

"Oh, so if that gets that much of a rise out of you it must be true!"

"Well it would only make sense, considering the only women around me are all older."

"Huh, never noticed that." She then ruffled his hair quite violently. "I guess it sucks then to be the youngest of us all, huh?"

He gently pried her hand from his head. "Yeah… it kind of does… do you still need me now?"

"Of course! I need someone to help me wallow in my own self pity and tell me everything that's good about me!" She then took his hand and led him away. "Let's go! It'll be fun!"

"I don't see how…" He muttered.

But as soon as they started to walk away from the large group of guests around them, Astrid appeared from out of nowhere and kicked Illyria to the ground. "Eat floor ya' hoe!" She shouted and then took Varyn away from her and back towards the main room.

"Uh, thanks." He said. "I thought I told you to wait while I got more wine though?"

Astrid crossed her arms annoyingly. "You were taking too long." She took one of the cups he had and downed it in a manner of a few seconds. "Now let's go back to Britannia and the others."

Askroltia was about to continue on with her but had a nagging feeling that made him stop suddenly.

"Huh? What's wrong?" The Scandinavian asked as she felt him stop in his tracks.

Varyn was now looking back at where Illyria was still on the floor, about to cry, winded and looking like a total wreck. "Sorry Astrid, I'll feel bad if I leave her like that."

Astrid shrugged. She couldn't be mad at him for trying to do something kind.

The Celt went over to the wild blonde and helped her to her feet. He took a cloth from a nearby table to dab her eyes dry and wrapped his cloak he had brought with him around her, covering the huge stain on her dress.

"Sorry about Astrid, do you want help cleaning up a bit in the lavatory? You can join us later when you're done, I think we'll be back in the main dining room."

"No… I'll be okay on my own…" she groaned. "Thanks Varyn."

"No problem." He said, and then continuing hesitantly. "And I'm sorry Illyria, that Rome picked her over you. I know you and him had a little thing together."

"Eh, he always had something with someone, ask half the women here." The blonde muttered irritably. "I guess I need to get over this whole thing; not like it will do me any good brooding over it."

"I think… I think that would be for the best. Just keep a level head okay? I appreciate the flattering remarks from before but you know…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks for helping me, now go back to Astrid; she really cares about you, you know?"

"Yeah… I noticed. Just be careful for the rest of the night okay?"

"Ugh, I'll try..." she said somewhat groggily, and began to walk away.

"What a gentleman you are." Astrid teased as the dirty blonde returned to her.

"I wouldn't have had to do that if it weren't for you."

"Hey I'm not apologizing, whore was trying to take you away. I can't have that."

"Whatever." Varyn said, jokingly rolling his eyes.

When they returned to the group from before, Britannia, who had seen the whole ordeal, pulled Varyn aside for a second.

"Seems like she's really claimed you." She whispered.

"I don't mind, she can do whatever she wants." Varyn replied, grinning.

"Hey Astrid, Gwyneth, Varyn! Hurry over here, I want to tell my story about hunting crocodiles on the Nile!" Egypt yelled.

 _Some time later_

Varyn wished he had refused to get Astrid alcohol from the very beginning. Now here she was, hammered and practically draped over him as they laid upon a couch. He himself was also tipsy, but not nearly as bad as her, though he didn't know how well he could deal with her in his current state.

"Astrid, what are you-" he started when she started moving.

"No no, don't speak, or move… just let me…" she said sprawling out further over his lap and onto the sofa, "lay here…"

In less than a minute she was out cold

 _Should have guessed this would happen._

As he thought this, Romulus passed by him, and Varyn tapped him to get attention.

"Hey Romulus, I know you've probably already heard this plenty of times tonight, but congratulations on getting married; I really mean it. Helena seems like a great woman and I wish you two the best."

Romulus looked somewhat surprised, not used to the northerner saying kind things to him. "Uh… thanks Varyn, that means a lot coming from you." He then began to smirk as he looked at the blonde sprawled across him. "But more importantly isn't there a greater manner at hand concerning you?"

Varyn could tell what he was getting at immediately. "Romulus…"

"Oh come on Varyn when are you going to man up and seal the deal with her? She seems plenty willing too! Perfectly ripe for the taking!"

"Could you not talk about her like she's some trophy I have to claim? She means a lot more to me than a mere medal to carry around like I have something to prove."

Rome smiled. "Sounds more genuine than I imagined. Just make sure she knows that." With that he patted the Celt on the shoulder and strode off.

Varyn sighed, how long would people tease him about this whole thing?

"Hey Varyn…" a voice suddenly said from below.

Askroltia looked down, it appeared he misjudged the Scandinavian's fatigue, as she was still awake.

"Was what you just said true?" She asked, staring at him with her stunning blue eyes.

Varyn did not dare look away from her at that moment. "Yeah…"

She sat up to be closer to him. "Good. Just promise me that you'll have eyes for no one else but me."

He then smiled. "Astrid, after spending so much time with you, how could I be interested in average women?"

"I don't know." She smirked, and leaned into him.

He put a finger to her lips. "Astrid, you're drunk."

"Ughhhhh, you're no fun as always… guess it doesn't even matter, I know you don't have the guts to do anything with me."

"More like I don't have the desire to…"

Astrid wrapped her arms around him, squeezing slightly painfully. He didn't mind though, and kissed her forehead. "At least in such haste. I just want to take my time, is that okay?"

"Yeah…" She grumbled, burying her face into his chest.

 _I wonder how much of this she'll even remember._

It was at that moment that Germania walked by. When he saw the two, he a gave a quick thumbs up, which looked rather odd with his otherwise completely expressionless figure.

 _Well, maybe it isn't such a bad idea if everyone else supports it..._

 _A few hours later_

The night was running late and so the entire party too needed to come to an end. Helena wanted to end things with throwing her ceremonial torch into a crowd of maidens, which whoever caught was said to be married next.

The Greek woman blew out the torch atop a small stage, said a quiet prayer which it cooled down, and then hurled it behind her, a crowd of excited non-married women clustered together waiting to catch it.

It flew through the air and soared just above most of the hands that reached to grab it, but two specifically determined women jumped up to reach for it. Both Gaul and Scandinavia managed to get their hands on it, but when they did they began to fall back down, and so crashed to the floor with Astrid losing her grip, leaving Gaul as the sole catcher of the torch.

The woman was dazed for a second, but when she realized her achievement she quickly jumped up and squealed with excitement. It was then that she turned to Germania and looked at him.

"Hey Berwald." Varyn said nonchalantly to the larger man beside him.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I think it would be wise to make yourself scarce from this premise right now."

"I think I'd have to agree with you there Varyn."

And so the northerner bolted out of the room, a sprinting Gaulic woman just behind him.

As the soon to be couple left the main room, a crestfallen and drunk Astrid walked over and stood at the Celt's side. "That should have been us… except you know, the you running away part."

"Yeah… you'd probably tackle me before I'd even have the chance." Varyn remarked, gently grabbing ahold of her by the waist and pulling her into him.

"Ha! Very true." She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. "Say, we don't need a torch to tell us that we'll be together right?"

"Are we not technically together right this very instant?" The dirty blonde retorted, walking them over to a sofa they could relax on.

"Heh, I guess you're right…" Astrid said, laying down besides him. "I don't sound desperate do I?" She asked worriedly.

"Only the good kind."

"Ughhhh… fuck you…" she mumbled, her eyes growing suddenly very heavy.

"Right back at you." Varyn replied. He also felt the effects of the long night and was beginning to doze off.

It wasn't even five minutes until the two of them were fast asleep together, leaning into each other.

Gwyneth came by at some point, smiling at the two and put a blanket over them, wishing the best for them.

It seemed as though more than just one pair of hearts were intertwined that night.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

-I'll be there for you-

October 12th, 1806

Thuringia, Prussia

(2 days before the disastrous Battle of Jena-Auerstedt for the Prussians)

Julia and Varyn were standing across from each other, arguing about the present developments in their already failing campaign against the seemingly unstoppable Napoleon.

They had started this coalition rather foolheartedly, believing to have more support initially against the French, but so far only Prussia, Reikland, and Saxony were really involved so far. The Russians had barely mobilized yet, the British were actually always technically at war with France but had not done much so far, and the Swedes had varying loyalty.

Even the Reikish had not been able do much since the Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm II, decided to start the conflict earlier than he anticipated, leaving him somewhat unready to make advances against the French. Instead Varyn himself came to advise the Prussians while his military officially readied itself, but this proved not too helpful in light of their recently defeats and the fact that he had to leave that very same day.

So here he was, trying to convince the albino woman not to engage the advancing French after their disaster two days ago. "Julia, don't just fight this battle because you think you have to. I know that you are a very reactive person, but please reconsider this."

Prussia knew he was right, but she couldn't bring herself to admit that. "Varyn have confidence in me, the Prussian army will withstand the French campaign into Germany; we are defending our homeland. We have faced much worse odds and now we outnumber their troops."

"Julia the French have already proved themselves to be able to decisively defeat a force much larger than their own. Plus, they have already beaten you in Saalfeld, some of your men have low morale, and you still use battle tactics from nearly thirty years ago. Please, don't do this; don't fight a battle you know you can't win."

This however only irritated Prussia. She had seen humiliating defeats these last few years, her and Varyn's union had been dissolved by Frederick William II and she had not been able to see him as often, her brother whom she had known her whole life had died, she was under so much stress recently with the French seeming to be invincible with no stopping them in sight, unless she could in the next few days, and now she was being told off by her lover who thought so little of her.

"Stop treating me like a kid Varyn! I can handle this! I don't need you to advise me on how to do everything, I can do it on my own!" She shouted, angry that he such little faith in her that he believed he needed to babysit her.

The dirty blonde frowned, but he didn't get angry; he could understand to a degree what the younger nation was going through. He then looked out the window into the fading daylight and sighed.

"Julia what's happened to us?"

"What?"

"This... isn't how we used to be… I don't want to become distant with you."

"No I get that… but don't you mean 'what's happened to you'? As far as I can tell I'm the one that's changed and that's being so irritable right now. Why aren't you questioning that instead?"

"Jules that's not how a relationship works, you can't just blame how things are going all onto one person. When we said our vows we bonded ourselves as equals; we both share the blessings and burdens of our relationship. And that means that if things aren't working out it's very much likely because of both of us; I'm not going to accuse you of something when I'm only seeing half the picture. So please Julia, if I'm doing anything wrong you need to tell me without hesitation. And by the off chance that it's just circumstantial and that neither of us are in the wrong then you need to talk to me; what's upsetting you, how did this start, and what can I do to help? It might be hard but I just need you to talk to me okay?"

Julia looked at him but didn't say anything.

Varyn sighed. At least he could say that he tried. "I'll have to leave soon or I'll be late for my journey back home, so I will say this last thing." He sat down across from the woman and folded his arms.

"Julia, I have lost many people I have known and loved in my life. They have been stripped away from me when I least expected and some have died because of my actions or lack thereof. So please understand that I don't want to lose anyone else, especially you, and that I am just trying to look out for you. So I'm sorry if I come off as overprotective or overbearing, just know that I love you okay? I would do anything to keep you safe."

He then kissed her forehead, and exited the room. But before he left, he turned around and smiled at the woman who was staring at him, surprised by his affection when she had yelled at him before. "I hope you'll make the right decision Jules."

"Wait." She said softly, almost a whisper. But the Celt heard it anyways and stopped immediately to look at her.

"Varyn… I'm sorry, it's no excuse but I've been… immensely stressed out these past couple years…"

He closed the door and entered back into the room. "I noticed recently, I wished I recognized it sooner… here's a little advice though Julia: if you ever think you're at your lowest point in life, it only means that things can get better. Trust me, hardships are practically an everyday thing for me… but I get through them, just like you'll need to, come time. I'm not saying it will be easy, but it's possible."

Her eyes averted his gaze, almost ashamed to look at him. "I know… it's just… I'm afraid that I'm not myself at points and I don't know what to do at times…"

She looked like she was about to cry, and he could not have that. He walked over to her and embraced her tightly. "I know what that's like, you feel like a stranger in your own mind, questioning everything you do or have done. But that's why you need to rely on others Jules. You have friends, and you have me, it's okay to lean on us every now and then, because you shouldn't have to do anything alone."

Julia didn't know what to say, so instead she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. "Varyn… thank you."

They stood there just like that for awhile. Soon they didn't even know how much time had passed, it could have been minutes or an hour. But eventually Julia pulled away slightly.

"I-I'd love for you to stay but didn't you just say that you have to leave?"

Varyn smirked. "I think I can stay the night instead, what kind of man would I be to leave you now?"

"A diligent one."

"I'm diligent in my love for you." He retorted.

Prussia giggled lightly and she hugged him once more. "Maybe. Best behave yourself tonight then if you're staying."

"Hmmm, I don't know if that will be possible."

"Ugh, and here I was dreaming of a long night's sleep." She joked, taking him by the hand and leading him further into the estate they were in.

July, 1807

Groningen, Kingdom of Holland

After the defeat of the 4th Coalition

 _How did this happen… how did we fail so decisively?_

This thought bombarded the Prussian's mind as she sat besides her semi-conscious lover. Echoes of when her brother died three years ago in a similar position remained fresh in her memory and terrified her.

The Netherlands entered the room at that moment and walked towards the two on the bed.

"Has he really been like this since the battle? For _six months_?" Julia asked the Dutch man.

"Yes. I can't believe it myself, hardly anyone of us have had an injury afflict us for so long. But then again I doubt any have had an injury as severe as Varyn. His heart and jugular were almost completely destroyed, and possibly also one of his lungs was damaged, so air and blood can't easily pass through his body. I can't imagine it being easy to heal like that."

Tim tried to comfort her though, not wanting to make the situation seem too bleak. "But he is getting better, at least now his breathing is more steady, before it was hardly coming in shallow gasps with-"

"Tim." She interrupted. "Please, I'd rather not hear about that right now."

"Right. Sorry." He apologized.

The Celt's hand twitched at that moment, almost like it was reaching out to grasp something, so Julia took it in her own hand and squeezed gently, trying to comfort him… to let him know she was there.

"I feel so guilty… he's practically always been there for me, but at a time like this I wasn't able to be there for him…" Julia sighed.

The Dutch man laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it. You had your own important things to do, and with how hectic the world is right now you can't expect someone to always be there for you. I'm positive he'd forgive you if he could right now."

"I know… I just feel so useless recently. It's like I can't do anything right. It's times like these where I need him the most… and yet he's unable to do anything because he tried to help me… to help all of us…"

The woman took a deep breath. "I just wished he knew how much I appreciate everything he does, because simply words can't describe it."

Varyn's hand moved again, but this time firmly gripping Julia's, squeezing it as she had done. At the same time his breathing settled a little, his whole body relaxing somewhat.

Tim noticed this exchanged and grinned ever so slightly. "I think he heard you."

Julia chuckled and kissed the dirty blonde's forehead. "I think so too."

But a tear dripped onto his skin, soon more following.

"Julia…?" Tim asked, suddenly worried.

"I'm fine." She muttered. "I… I just can't stand to see him in such a state."

"He'll get better, you know that. Everything will be alright."

"Nothing's 'alright'." She replied harshly and bitterly. "Nothing has been 'alright' ever since Francis decided he wanted to turn the world upside-down. Stupid fucking frog and his stupid republican ideas."

"No offense Tim." She added to the nation that had already been a republic for more than two hundred years.

"None taken." He said casually. "But remember that we have all faced hardships before. This isn't going to be the end end of the world."

"It's going to be for Francis." Julia said, spitting out the name that she hated so much. "Maybe not soon but one day he'll get revenge for what he's done to me and my loved ones. And he's going to have wished he never crossed me."

"That sounds slightly ominous." Tim remarked.

"Good… would you mind leaving us for a little while? I would like to be alone with him."

"As you wish." The Dutch man said, bowing slightly and removing himself from the lovers' presence.

A faint sigh passed the albino's lips. Julia laid down besides the bedridden man and curled up to him. She watched his chest rise and fall with every breath and was relieved to observe that it seemed normal. Or at least normal enough for someone who had his throat and one of his lungs pierced with a three meter lance.

She traced his cheek gently with her hand and let it rest on his torso.

"Please wake up for me Var. I need you. I need you so much more right now than I've ever needed you before. So please, please wake up." She whispered into his ear despite knowing it was in vain.

And wake up he did not. Not for another two months.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

-What is wrong with me?-

1095 A.D.

Esztergom, Kingdom of Hungary

Elizaveta sat up suddenly in her bed, awoken from her sleep seemingly at random. She had a thin white tunic on her, but couldn't remember falling asleep with any clothes at all, they had all been carelessly discarded to the floor in the night's hasty actions, where most of them remained.

 _He's gone again…_ she thought as the comforting figure from the night before was absent now, as per usual. Yawning as she stretched her arms above her head, she got out of bed to draw open the curtains from the window and reveal the daylight that was already appearing behind the edges of the thick fabric. It was completely overcast outside, but still somewhat bright out; it was strange, she thought the rain clouds from last night would be gone by now, but here they were.

Not wanting to stare out to the slightly depressing atmosphere outside, Elizaveta turned away from her window to get ready for the day and clear last night's memories from her mind, no matter how much she wished to return to them. However when she turned around she witnessed an even stranger sight; the man turned out to still be in her room, odd, considering the last couple times he was usually gone when she awoke, always with some excuse for the next time he saw her.

' _Oh, sorry Lizzie, I forgot I had an errand to do this morning, it was really important.'_

' _Sorry lass, I… I didn't think you'd want to wake up to me with a hangover…'_

' _Elizaveta… I… I woke up to go to the lavatory and didn't want to disturb your beautiful face climbing back into bed.'_

She didn't know which was worse, his previous actions or the fact that despite them she still found herself in this same situation about twice a week, somehow irresistibly drawn to him for reasons she could not explain. It made even less sense to her when she realized she feared that he was getting more and more distant to her each day, and the sight of him now only served to increase her worries.

But either way here he was, not lying besides her as she might have hoped, but still here; slumped down and hunched over with his back to the base of her bed, his head between his knees.

"Varyn? Are you okay?" She asked almost timidly; she couldn't see his face, but could tell by looking at him that something was wrong.

"Oh, Elizaveta… you're awake." he said, with no sense of surprise in his voice at all, not even turning to look at her.

"Yeah… no offense but I didn't expect you to still be here."

He chuckled lightly, continuing to stare at the floor. "That's a justified expectation to have of me… trying to run away from things…" He let a drawn out pause settle before resuming, this time in a much quieter tone. "I'm truly a despicable man Elizaveta, I hope you know that."

The brunette tilted her head ever so slightly. "What do you mean?"

He didn't respond for the longest time, nearly a minute seemed to pass before he finally raised his head to look at her for the first time, and what she saw shocked her.

His eyes were completely bloodshot, tears staining his cheeks as his face was wrought in anguish and guilt, a look that she felt had been there for hours. "I'm so sorry Elizaveta… I'm so sorry for what I've done to you…" He rasped out, somehow maintaining his voice earlier until now.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her fears from before growing.

He turned his face away from her. "Lizzie… you're a wonderful and vivacious woman… you're beautiful and graceful… kind and passionate yet fierce when you need to be… you don't let men boss you around and let your voice be heard, truly a brave woman… you're a strong figure that can lead men who would normally never take orders from a woman… and I've taken all of that and deceived you for my own selfish desires."

"I used you," he continued, his body shaking a little, "lied to you and myself… all so that I could use you no better than a fucking whore…" He convulsed as he said this, tears dripping onto the floor below him. "And I-I'm so… so sorry for that… I'm _so_ sorry…"

"Varyn?" The Hungarian asked once more as her voice waved. "Please, what are you talking about? D-Do you not love me?"

"I'd like to, but I can't… Lizzie, I'm still in love with someone else, someone very far from me right now who I don't think I'll ever be able to see again. This woman still occupies my heart to this day even though I haven't seen her in decades… and then when I met you my heart ached for her once more, despite you being in my sights." He paused once more to let his words get to her. "I've tricked you, and I feel disgusted at myself every second I think about it."

"Do you regret it then? Was this a waste of time for you, being with me? She asked solemnly, almost accusedly.

"No, not at all, I've loved being with you Lizzie, you're an amazing woman… but it's not fair. Not fair to her and not fair to you. I've tried to replace her presence with yours, even if just for a time… but what I'm doing is making me so sick to my stomach that I can't stand for it any longer."

"L-Literally." He choked on a laugh, "I was going to leave the room but collapsed to the floor."

Elizaveta sat on the bed, a weight on her shoulders oppressing her. "I.. I was worried that something might be wrong… that maybe I wasn't good enough… that I-I… did I do something wrong?" She asked, a look of sorrow passing over her face.

"No!" Varyn suddenly shouted, raising himself to kneel before her. "No Lizzie you did nothing wrong! Don't ever think that! You've been nothing short of a perfect lover… but one that I unfortunately can't accept. I'm sorry, you've done absolutely nothing to deserve this, but likewise I don't deserve someone as wonderful and innocent as you… in the future I think you'll make someone very happy, someone who will appreciate and love you much more than I will ever be able to."

"And this someone can never be you? Not in any circumstance or time?"

The Celt shook his head. "I don't think so, there's just too much distance between us and our lands, I think it was mostly by chance that we happened to end up together, and I'm not going to steal you for myself when there's someone out there much more suitable for you than me, and know that when you find them I will give you my most fulsome and earnest blessings."

"Heh, thanks, but I never thought I'd hear something like that from a man who's been a pagan for most his life." She giggled, wiping a stray tear from her eyes.

"Think I can pass for a legitimate Christian now?" He joked. "Taken me ages to get it down."

"Maybe just a little." Elizaveta laughed as more tears escaped her faltering composure.

Varyn frowned and leaned closer to wipe her eyes gently with his sleeve. He then embraced her, stroking her head gently. "I guess it's unreasonable to ask you not to cry, but may I question why you're not mad at me instead?"

"I don't know if I can be right now… You've treated me well… for the most part… I can understand that you're human, we make mistakes… but to be honest here, while I can't say that I'm not just the least bit heartbroken, it's a mistake that I'm glad you made; you've taught me a lot Varyn, at least I can be grateful for that. And thinking about it all now I might have been just a bit more physically attached to this whole relationship than emotionally… so try not to beat yourself too much about it all."

"Gosh," he chuckled as he let her go, "you're too understanding, could you at least hit me just a little then? I know I deserve much more, but I don't think I can handle a broken jaw or anything right now, which I know you're fully capable of." He grinned.

"Fine." She punched his arm with as much energy as she could muster at that moment, which wasn't much, but it still proved effective as he rubbed the spot gingerly.

"Why do girls seem to have the best aim?" Varyn muttered to himself at the same exact spot which had been punched many a times before.

"Now if I might make a request?" The Hungarian asked.

"Anything." Varyn said quickly. "Elizaveta I'll do anything in my abilities to make up what I've done to you."

She smiled at this but then turned her face away a bit shyly. "Then can you kiss me one last time?"

Varyn didn't respond at first, scratching the back of his neck nervously instead. "Even when you know that I've also been thinking of someone else?"

"I think I can manage, and I believe it's well within your 'abilities'." Elizaveta grinned sadly, "I'll admit that you've been my first love Varyn, I want something to remember what we had, even if it was just on my side."

He raised a challenging eyebrow towards her last statement. "Don't be too sure about that." He then leaned forwards to kiss her lips meaningfully, giving her the proper treatment that she deserved, one without anyone else in his mind and instead just thinking of her instead. It was probably one of the longest ones they had shared, and before long Varyn couldn't even remember when it started, but he didn't mind, and neither did she it seemed as she pushed into him.

"Whoa… that felt… different." The brunette said when they finally separated, breathing heavily.

"Was it worse?" He questioned.

"No. Better, much better." She said succinctly, thinking it over.

"Oh, glad to hear it then." Varyn said cheerfully.

The two sat there awkwardly for a second after that. "Soooo… what now?" Elizaveta asked, never having dealt with a breakup before, even if it was for a relationship as brief as theirs.

The Celt's stood up, and she finally noticed his loosely thrown on clothes that revealed his chest, making her bite her lip. "Well I was hoping that this doesn't ruin things between us, you are someone I sincerely wish to be friends with, Lizzie, I just don't think we can be anything more than that; I don't want to spoil your innocence more than I already have."

She smiled up at him, taking her eyes away from his figure and towards his face. "I-I think that sounds great… I hope we can achieve that."

"I think we'll be able to." He then kissed her forehead and made his way to leave her room, looking back from the doorway to smile and wave her off. "Stay wonderful Elizaveta, don't ever change." He then thought about his words again. "At least not too much." He corrected, and closed the door.

"Varyn wait!"

There was a pause, and worried that he didn't hear her, Elizaveta jumped off her bed to try and catch him. But as she was reaching for the door handle, it suddenly opened, revealing the Celt's face directly in front of her.

"You called?" He asked, grinning.

The Hungarian stepped back, a little surprised, but quickly recollected her thoughts. "Uh, yeah… I just wanted to thank you… for being honest at least, I don't think it would have been good for either of us if we continued going with this and me being in the dark and all… and before anything got too serious…."

Varyn nodded, impressed by her maturity despite her relatively young age. "Anytime deary, and if you ever need anything at all, just let me know, and I'll do what I can for you."

"Thank you Varyn… I-I'm going to miss you."

"As will I. Goodbye Elizaveta." He said briefly. Now with a casual two finger salute, the Nordic man finally left the woman, the bond between them stronger than ever before despite him just ending their brief relationship.

Now despite having appeared to regain control of his emotions by the end of their conversation, Varyn walked down the flight of stairs near her room that led to an empty hallway and checked to make sure no one was coming. It was there that he leaned his back against a wall, slid down to the floor, and began to sob heavily.

 _I'm so sorry Elizaveta…_

 _I'm so sorry Astrid…_

 _What is wrong with me…?_


	38. Chapter 38

Author's note: any offensive terms or phrases are not reflective of my own beliefs or views, but rather used to make the dialogue more realistic, especially in past time periods.

Chapter 38

-The Battle of Grunwald-

June 8th, 1410

Marienburg, capital of the Teutonic Order

Varyn and Julchen were standing across the table from one another, planning the course of the impending war. "We expect the Lithuanians and Polish to invade separately from the East and South correspondingly once the truce expires on the 24th." The German stated.

"Most likely, but we have to be aware of the number of forces Felix has been drawing in recently. Are you sure that Hungary and King Sigismund will honour our agreement and help us disrupt their union?" Reikland asked worriedly.

" _Ja, ja_. Don't worry Var, Elizaveta is one of my better friends, she'll come through."

The dirty blonde folded his arms. "It doesn't help that you hate each other and are always at each other's throats."

Julchen chuckled. "That's just us play fighting."

"Right… Do you still… you know… with her?"

She looked troubled for a moment. "I don't know. I think I might have grown out of it … especially now that she has become more close with Austria and Poland recently. But I still admire her."

"Oh, well that's… progress I guess. That is if you wanted to get over it."

Julchen smirked leaning slightly closer to him. "Oh are you afraid to say 'that's good' and that you what my attention fixed on you instead?"

"What? Of course not, I have someone else on my mind and couldn't be bothered with some child's opinion of me." He said jokingly. Varyn then flicked her forehead playfully.

"Hey I'm not a child! You even said-"

A soldier then suddenly came into the room, interrupting her and rushing to the albino's side. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made her grin. But when she thanked and dismissed the man, Varyn was still none the wiser.

"What did he say?"

Julchen smiled once more. "Our predictions were correct, the Lithuanians departed from Vilnius a couple days ago and are heading towards my eastern border. Looks like we will have a two pronged invasion like we thought."

After hearing this, Reikland was still skeptical. "But the truce doesn't end until the 24th, why would they leave so early? It only takes about a weeks march from Vilnius to the border. Something isn't right here."

Julchen waved him off. "You're overthinking it Var, don't worry. Just remember the plan; you will deal with Toris and his men in the east, and I will defeat Felix in the south."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." The grey eyed nation sighed. "Are you sure that you can handle Poland on your own? He has many troops and his army is only growing by the day."

"Of course! You think the awesome me can't hold off that pathetic crossdresser? Remember Var, I kicked his ass before when I was weaker, now I am at the prime of my power! There's no way I can lose!"

Varyn's gaze turned cold. "Julchen, the worst thing you can do in war in underestimate your opponent. Overconfidence can make you lose any battle, no matter the circumstance. Promise me you won't get too cocky and rush into a fight you know you can't win?"

The albino crossed her arms in annoyance. She hated when the Celtic treated her like some child. "yeah, yeah _,_ I promise." She mumbled.

Varyn's smile returned. "That's all I need to hear. I will depart with my men to the eastern border as soon as possible." As began to exit from the room, he turned around for a second, looking back towards the German. "And Julchen?"

" _Ja?_ "

"Be careful out there." And with that, the door closed behind him, leaving the albino to contemplate the impending battle with Felix.

July 3rd, 1410

Near the border with Poland

"Are you kidding me?! This isn't some kind of twisted joke?!" Julchen demanded.

Hungary was offended that she would question her words. "I'm being completely serious Julchen, you know I wouldn't lie to you. Feliks and his forces crossed the Vistula (a river near the border of Poland and the Teutonic order) a few days ago and were joined by Toris and the whole Lithuanian army the same day. Even the forces of Mazovia are there along with some Czech mercenaries."

The albino was silent, taking in the information that, while valuable, could very well lead to her defeat. "So this means that the Lithuanians' march to the east was just a ruse and that Varyn was sent with a third of our forces some dozens of miles away on a wild goose chase?"

"It seems so…"

"Goddamnit it all!" Julchen shouted, slamming her fist into a nearby tree. "How many troops would you say they have?"

Elizaveta thought for a moment, imagining what she had saw just a few days ago. "I would say between thirty five and forty-thousand, with possibly more on the way."

The German gritted we teeth. "Varyn had eleven thousand, which left me with about twenty six thousand. Fucking hell you mean I have to face a force with nearly fifteen thousand more men on my own?! And you said they will have already started marching out by today?!"

The Hungarian nodded. "I'm sorry Julchen, I tried to negotiate with them, but Toris wouldn't hear it. I came to you as soon as I could."

"And your king will not intervene?"

"I did my best to convince Sigismund but he never listens to me. I reminded him of his promise to your grand master but all he did was send some duke to raid southern Poland. I'm so sorry Julchen, if I could help more you know I would."

Julchen managed to regain her composure as opposed to her outburst before. "No it's fine Lizzie… thank you for this information, it is extremely helpful. I'll have to tell this all to my grand master. We'll leave some men to travel back to Marienburg to defend it if I happen to be defeated, then I guess we can follow the Polish parallel to their route along the Drewenz River. Next I guess I can send messengers to Varyn, he might have gotten wind of this and will be on his way already."

Elizaveta smiled. "That's better. Think about what you can do, you're always more clear minded when you think tactically."

She returned the smile and took the Hungarian's and kissed it. "Thank you Elizaveta, thank you for everything."

"Be careful Julchen. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Ha, as if that prissy Pol could even touch me! Don't worry Lizzie, I'll manage. I'll use this to show Varyn or anyone that I can do things on my own!" The albino cackled, waving the Hungarian off as she returned to her campgrounds.

Elizaveta sighed as she watched the younger nation go off. " _Isten segítsen neki._ " She whispered under her breath.

July 15th

The Battlefield at Grunwald

Julchen stabbed a Polish soldier who came after her and another that tried to attack her horse. Pushing through the mass of knights and foot soldiers she saw the Polish King Władysław being attacked directly by her own forces and prayed to god that he would fall.

Another man tried to get her off her horse but she cut him down easily. She plowed through some more men and led her knights towards King Władysław, if anyone was able to kill him it would be her.

She was stopped however as more Polish knights blocked off her pursuit and contested with her own men, many of hers falling.

 _How are they still fighting so fiercely?! The Lithuanians fled like cowards over two hours ago! Don't they know they're already defeated?!_

She parried with one knight and managed to clip his horse in the neck, making them both fall.

It was then that she noticed Feliks, the 'man' (If you could even call him one) she hated most. He was on foot fighting off two of her infantrymen when he stabbed one and blocked a swing from the other. He might have been holding his own but Julchen could tell he was exhausted. His armour was dented and cuts and bruises covered any exposed skin he had.

She instantly rushed towards him, cutting down any man that got in her way. When she was just but a few yards from him she dismounted from her horse and lunged herself forwards to parry a swing from his sword that would have killed the other man of hers he was already engaged with. Julchen then blocked another swing from him with her shield, noticing the lack of power behind it.

"Getting tired Feliks? Why don't you just give up and surrender already?!" She taunted . Pushing him back, she managed to isolate him slightly from his own men and put him into a more defensive stance. Despite this his next attack managed to cut open a section of exposed skin on her neck, as she missed taking the sword with her shield.

 _Want to play with me Feliks?!_

The woman began to dart around him, easily blocking any of his weakened blows and nicking him wherever she could. She was playing with him, a cat with a mouse between its paws.

 _Varyn said I should never hesitate to fight dirty, that's what'll keep you above everyone else when you're outmatched._

Julchen ducked low from a swing of his blade which threw him off balance as he missed his target. She took the opportunity to quickly knock him off his feet and disarm him. He fell to the ground with a hard thud, his heavy armour weighing him down. Standing above him she took her blade and readied it above him. Felik's eyes grew wide and he rolled to the side, quickly pushing himself back up and taking his sword again.

"Come at me you stupid dyke!" He taunted with renewed energy, "I'll cut your hair even shorter!"

With that he made for her and swung his blade sideways at her head. She caught it with her shield, bits of wood flying from it, and was startled at the pain from it in her arm. Backing up, Julchen examined Feliks more closely, trying to think of a way to best him.

She noticed his left arm was hanging more loosely by his side with blood trickling out of his armour. He must have injured it, and now was favouring his right arm. The German took this in and advanced upon him again, this time targeting his left side more, jabbing and hacking at his vulnerable and exposed flank.

The Pole tried to fight back, but it was obvious that his exhaustion was finally getting to him. Now trying to defend himself with only about half his upper body's effectiveness. She cut through his chain mail in one particular thrust, driving her blade deep into his arm. He collapsed from this, dropping his sword to cling to the wound.

Now on his knees and truly defeated, Julchen placed the tip of her steel blade on his neck and pushed it slightly to show she wasn't going to hesitate to seriously injure him as blood welled from the slight incision.

"Ha! How does it feel Feliks? To be beaten and humiliated time and time again by a girl?! How can you consider yourself a man? Oh wait- you don't you stupid crossdressing faggot!" She mocked, driving the sword even further. "Will you surrender now?"

Poland grimaced from the pain he was in, but soon grinned as he looked up at her. "I really would have… but I just suddenly changed my mind."

Just then Julchen noticed a different sound all around her. Where before was the clashing and contesting of metal, now were the screams of men and hoofbeats. She turned to look around and saw a horrible sight.

The Lithuanians and all their cavalry had returned and were charging into her men, crushing them under their horses and lances, and one particular horseman was barreling towards her hardly ten meters away.

She barely had any time to react before Toris drove his lance into her abdomen, and an unimaginable amount of pain instantly knocked her out.

 _Two hours later_

Varyn sprinted atop his horse as fast as he could to the site of the battlefield. He and some seven hundred cavalrymen were sent ahead (by his own orders) of the rest of his troops which were still about two days' march behind to help relieve the Teutonic forces. He learned about the Lithuanians' trick to split his and Julchen's forces, and had rushed as fast as he could to help her.

But he came too late.

He saw the carnage of the the Knights' camp and their retreating forces only a little while ago. He had asked what happened, and found that Julchen's forces were mostly destroyed, along with her Grandmaster being slain in the battle. None of the survivors knew what had happened to her, and most assumed she must still be at the battlefield.

So now here the Nordic was, his horse sweating and breathing heavily from near exhaustion, as he made his way through the growing pile of bodies and other dead horses, he saw random crowds of men scrounging and searching through the corpses.

One man, who Varyn recognized as a Pole from his armour, tried to engage him, but Varyn simply cut his head off in one fell swoop.

Continuing on, two soldiers in the distance caught his attention as they carried off a feminine figure with a lance protruding from her side. Making his way towards them he saw that it was in fact Julchen, and so bee-lined for them.

The two men soon heard him, and noticing he wasn't an ally, dropped Julchen and drew their weapons, one of which being a bow.

Varyn saw the archer draw an arrow and tried to zigzag his path towards them to avoid it. He used his reins to direct his horse from one side to the other, but when he was getting within attacking distance, the archer released his arrow and aimed true, the tip plunging itself straight into his horse's chest, sending it flailing to the ground.

Varyn managed to leap of his mount in time and land safely… by crashing on top of the archer.

Easily breaking some ribs and possibly herniating a disc in his spine, the Celt still drew the sword that was attached to his belt and stabbed the archer below him. He then struggled to stand up, and looked at the other man who had his own sword in hand, standing between Varyn and Julchen.

 _I swear this guy has a death wish_ , he thought.

The Reikish man was hardly given a second to gather himself before the man rushed at him, and tried to stab him directly in the stomach. Varyn barely managed to block the attack with his sword with how much pain he was in, but that was the least of his problems as he tripped upon the corpse of the archer he just killed and fell onto his back, landing on something hard.

The soldier took the opportunity to try and stab the dirty blonde again from above, but Varyn dodged it and directed his blade upwards and kicked the man's feet from under him, making him fall hard onto his sword.

 _Well that was kind of easy… shit I think I might have herniated another disc when I tripped…_ he thought as he struggled to get the now dead man's body off from on top of him.

 _Half an hour later_

Julchen woke to an unsteady and staggering rocking.

When she opened her eyes her vision was hazy, and something on her side itched. She then noticed that she was being carried in Varyn's arms…

 _What is he doing here?_

Varyn saw that she was finally conscious and grinned. "Finally awake sleepy head? I imagine you've been out for a little while now." He then grunted as he stumbled and almost fell, which would have sent them both to the ground. "Damn Julchen, are you ever going to stop growing? I can barely carry you anymore." He remarked as he regained his footing.

The albino smiled and noticed the thick bandage on her lower abdomen and immediately got worried. "W-What happened there?"

Reikland followed her gaze to the wound that was still slightly bleeding, but thanks to the bandages he wrapped around her the blood flow had slowed down. "I'm sorry. I came too late and wasn't able to help you. According to one of your soldiers, Toris drove a lance right into your side and you were immediately knocked unconscious. I found you and was able to patch you up. We can't head back to your own camp, it was ravaged by camp followers, I'm taking you to my own a few miles away."

Julchen felt dazed, he observed, probably from the immense blood loss as her eyes grew foggy.

"Oh… thanks…" but something snapped in her mind and she had a moment of clarity; she raised her head violently with much pain to her injury.

"Wait! What about the battle?! What happened?!" She shouted, "You said Toris?! I thought he retreated from the battle?!"

Varyn frowned. "Julchen, please calm down, you're in no shape to be moving too much." He then sighed. "Toris led a faint retreat. His cavalry left for a few hours but then returned and slammed into your forces from the flank. It was a bloodbath and your troops retreated almost instantly. I only found out about the false invasion in the east a week or so ago and rushed back here as soon as possible, but I only managed to see that the battle over. I was able to kill a few Polish who had stayed behind, but it made no difference; the battle was lost."

Julchen slumped, or at least as much as she could in his arms. She looked ashamed. "So I failed… I really can't do anything by myself. Am I to be dependent on others for the rest of my life?"

Varyn kissed her forehead, disregarding the blood and dirt. "That's not true. Julchen no one is invincible, we're all destined to lose at some point, and more than once. This is just one of those points for you and I both."

"But you… you didn't lose, none of this was your fault. What are you talking about?" She asked, confused.

"Julchen… any time I can't protect those close to me is a defeat. I'm sorry I couldn't reach you in time. I was trying to look out for you… not that I think you should be reliant upon me… but in that regard I failed in my own right."

The albino lowered her head as she blushed and clung to him. "Varyn… t-thank you…"

He felt like she was going to say something else, but she was beginning to pass out again, so he held her tighter to himself. "Julchen I promise to protect you always, no matter the cost."

"Thank you…"

Varyn continued on through the fields towards his camp, journeying through the blazing heat of the day.

"Oh yeah." Julchen said after few minutes, suddenly regaining consciousness and startling the man. "Did I ever tell you I like your new scar?" She asked rather deliriously.

Varyn chuckled. "Yes, the first time you saw it."

The albino nodded slowly, her eyes becoming very heavy once more. "Good, good… I just thought you should know…"

Varyn couldn't help but smile. " _Taka_."

Translations:

 _Isten segítsen neki:_ Hungarian for 'God help her'

 _Taka:_ Reikish for 'Thank you'


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

-Love and Guilt-

February, 2016

The man had said little since he had woken up that morning.

Julia noticed this as she helped Varyn cook eggs for breakfast. He had said a few words, but only in reply to anything from her.

It was unusual to say the least. Varyn was an unpredictable man, sometimes he could be the most childish, lively, and talkative person in the world, but he could also be the most wise, depressed, or quiet person too. Julia had grown to realize that when he was in one of his silent moods he was usually deep in thought about something, but even then he would still talk to her, not wanting to ignore her presence.

But today was different, she could count the amount of times he had spoken on the fingers of one of her hands.

She was worried, to put it bluntly.

As they finished cooking and made their way to the dinner table, the two settled down for a silent breakfast.

The albino tried her best to start a conversation, crack a joke, ask a question, anything to get the man talking, but all it resulted in was a series of half hearted mumbles in reply. She could tell that he wasn't trying to be rude, his tone was never annoyed or aggressive at all, it seemed he was more distracted than anything, lost in thought about something.

"Hey Var, when are you going to stop being lame and talk to me?" She finally asked.

The Celt didn't as much as look at her, and only stared down at his meal that he had barely touched.

"Earth to Varyn, quite being a loser and stop ignoring your lover." She teased.

Varyn didn't look up.

Julia frowned. He usually would lighten up or apologize when he realized he was doing anything to bother her, but even that wasn't working. She was going to have to try something different.

She walked over to him and stood behind him. Draping her arms around his neck she whispered in his ear. "You know Var, keep ignoring me and I'll have to start ignoring you in the bedroom…"

Finally he seemed to actually notice her presence for the first time that morning as he giggled lightly. "Heh, I guess that I can't let that happen. Sorry Jules, I wasn't trying to ignore you, just something on my mind."

"What is it?" She asked gently, nuzzling his neck.

His reply was quiet and timid. "I-I had a memory… I r-remembered something awful…"

Once again Julia's heart filled with guilt as she was cruelly reminded that she was the root of all these problems. "Do… do you want to talk about it?" She asked simply.

The Celt gave out a dry laugh. "Not really. But I have a feeling that your going to make me anyways."

Prussia smirked and nodded. "Yup."

Sitting back down across from him, Julia let him take a moment to gather his thoughts before beginning. "Soooo what was it about?" She asked not long after.

Another few moments passed before he said anything, but he soon sighed as he readied himself to open up about his past. "Well… I actually had quite a few memories come back to be the last week or so… some with Astrid and Valérie, some that didn't really make sense, and one from the Battle of Grunwald. Actually, looking back at it now, that was probably an important event for us emotionally right?"

Julia's face flushed slightly, remembering that day clearly. "Yeah… that was the day I began to think of you as more than just my mentor or friend. But of course it would take more than two hundreds years for you to realize that yourself."

Varyn liked to see her more embarrassed expression. "Oh did it?" Then he thought of something that he should know. "Actually on that subject, I hate to ask this, but when did we really get together? It had to have happened before we got married in 1721 right?"

Julia nodded and reddened a little more. "Yeah, we actually had a few… incursions with each other I'll say, but we never officially got together until the mid sixteen fifties."

"Oh, I guess we've been consistently together for a while now then huh?" He asked innocently.

Those words cut deep into Julia.

 _Consistently… if only that were true_

"Uh… yeah… we have been, over 350 years now. But uh, that's not what we're originally going to talk about right?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Varyn quickly nodded. "Oh yeah, well I remembered why I kind of freaked out whenever Francis touched me when he came over… I remembered when he put me into a coma for over half a year…" he paused as thoughts flooded throughout his mind.

"I think I realized a lot of things while I was in that coma… I had a lot of unpleasant memories come to me when I was in it… I remember what Francis did to me… to all of us… and I remembered that I utterly hated him for so long."

"You can say that again, I'm not even sure why we let him into our house." Julia said, but something didn't make sense to her. "Wait so you had a memory of a memory? What kind of inception shit is that?"

Varyn scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah it doesn't really make much sense to me either… but like I said I had a lot of visions during it. Some of them were nice but most I'd rather forget… those seven or so months were a very dark time for me Julia, and not just because I couldn't see."

He chuckled a little at his own joke but then grew solemn once more. "I… I was not entirely all together in my head during that time… it got so bad that I wasn't sure I wanted to wake up. Some of the memories came back to me with such vividness that it made me not want to come back to my own guilt ridden existence… I think the reason why it took me so long to get out of it was because I didn't actually want to…"

The Prussian looked at him worriedly. "Varyn…"

The man lightened up a little though and smiled at her. "B-But I didn't give up. I was somewhat conscious at times during my coma… I heard you, I always heard you besides me. Julia thank you… you were there for me day and night for weeks on end. You never left my side. And you never let me forget what I needed to live for… what I needed to come back to." He grasped the woman's hands and kissed one of them gently. "Thank you Julia, I believe you were the one of the only reasons that I woke up from my coma."

Julia's heart filled with a pleasant warmth. "Varyn… that was a really hard time for me too, but know that I would go through it all again just to see you wake up again." She said.

Varyn looked deeply moved as his eyes started to well up with the beginnings of tears. "Thank you Julia… I have a feeling that despite knowing so little about my past life right now, you were one of the very few people I could trust utterly and entirely."

He then got up from his seat to approach her and embraced her tightly. "Thank you for always being by my side, I love you so much Julia, more than you can imagine."

Julia's eyes began to tear up in return, but out of internal guilt and shame, not love or compassion.

"I love you too Varyn." She whispered quietly into his ear.

 _You don't even know a quarter of what we've been through together… do I even want you to remember it all?_


End file.
